The roots of Jewish-Iranian friendship

A little aside in the midst of a war that pits Israel against Iran.

It is not a war between the Iranian people, formerly known as Persians, and the Jewish people.

Persia was an ancient and advanced civilization that had mostly friendly relations with Jews, who had been in that country for some 2,500 years.

After the Babylonian conquest of Judah in 586 BCE, many Jews were exiled to the Persian Empire.

The Persian king Cyrus the Great (c. 538 BCE) permitted Jews in exile to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple — a foundational event in Jewish history and a symbol of early Persian-Jewish cooperation.  Cyrus actually was a great leader. 

Many informed Jews recognize a debt to Persia, and relations between what became Iran, and what became Israel, were friendly. Most Israelis don’t hate Iranians, and most Iranians don’t hate Israelis.

The  relationship between the Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) and Israel was a strategic marriage of convenience characterized by deep cooperation in security, intelligence, and energy—all while remaining officially "unofficial."  

Pahlavi Iran was the second Muslim-majority country (after Turkey) to recognize Israel

The warm relationship lasted until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when the mad mullahs turned their backs on thousands of years of traditional friendship, and ordered a holy war against Jews. And the West.

All this may help to explain why some opponents of the current regime wave Israeli flags, along with U.S. and Iranian. 

With any luck, a good ending to the war will result in the rebirth of friendship between Iran and both Israel and the U.S.

P.S.: I am aware that many Iranians were hostile to the U.S. as a result of America (and Britain) overthrowing the elected leader of Iran and  installing the Shah in 1953. 

I also am aware that people who experienced that are declining, and most Iranians today feel the ayatollahs were far worse than the Shah.