“I think there are only two countries on this planet that can claim to have a biblical relationship: Iran and Israel. This goes back 25 centuries. Cyrus the Great [c. 600–530 BCE] freed the Jewish slaves in Babylon and helped them rebuild their temple in Jerusalem.”
— Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, January 6, 2026

History often surprises us with its echoes. Few realize that Iran and Israel—two nations now locked in bitter hostility—once shared a bond rooted in scripture and strengthened by decades of cooperation. That relationship, spanning millennia, was not only symbolic but profoundly practical.

On September 1, 1962, a devastating earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck Buin Zahra in Qazvin, northwest of Tehran. The impact was severe, with over 12,000 fatalities, thousands of individuals injured, and the destruction of nearly 90 villages. In the wake of this catastrophe, Iran turned to an unlikely partner—Israel.

Since the mid-1950s, Israeli agricultural experts had been working in Iran, and now........

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