Israel's Pattern of Obstructing US-Iran Peace Revealed, Echoing Iraq-Iran War and Nuclear Deal

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to meet US President Donald Trump, there were strong reasons to expect he would use the meeting to obstruct any step towards de-escalating tension and conflict in the Gulf region.

According to former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, this view is based on a historical record stretching back more than five decades.

Declassified intelligence documents, memos from senior American officials, investigative reports and academic research, he says, reveal a recurring pattern.

Successive Israeli governments, often with support from elements within the country’s security establishment, have repeatedly sought to thwart efforts to end regional conflicts or manage tensions between the United States and Iran.

Although the methods varied — from intelligence operations and public diplomacy campaigns to political lobbying and pressure on policymakers — the strategic objective, in his assessment, has remained the same: to maintain confrontation between Washington and Tehran, and to oppose diplomatic initiatives that could reduce Israel’s influence in shaping US policy in the Middle East.

Prolonging the Iran-Iraq War

According to Zarif, this logic was already evident during the Iran-Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 to 1988.

Several researchers, including Trita Parsi and David Menashri, argue that Israel’s strategy at the time tended to favour neither side achieving a decisive victory, nor the war ending quickly.