Iran's Historical Role in Undermining Middle East Peace Process and Current Regional Conflict

supported Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad during the 1990s with funding, training, and bomb assembly instruction to disrupt the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

These groups conducted suicide bombings targeting Israelis, which intensified opposition to the peace process. U.S. federal court documented that Hamas received between $25 million and $50 million from Iran during 1995-1996.

Iran channeled $100 million to $200 million annually to militant organizations opposing peace agreements, equivalent to $200 million to $400 million in current dollars. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei referred to Yasser Arafat, an Oslo architect, as a traitor and fool.

Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group, increased cooperation with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to resist normalization of Israel's relations with Arab states.

“— The Atlantic, 2026”

in the Peace Process Derailment The Oslo Accords led to agreements between Israel and the PLO, followed by normalization with parts of the Arab world and a peace treaty with Jordan in the early 1990s. Suicide bombings by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad began almost immediately, aiming to prevent compromise.

An Israeli far-right extremist massacred Palestinian worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, adding to the violence. In November 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist opposed to the peace process. Shimon Peres, Rabin's successor, continued talks, and public opinion in Israel and among Palestinians largely supported the accords.

However, persistent attacks led Israel to impose checkpoints and closures, restricting Palestinian access to jobs and eroding support for the agreements. Israel's military intelligence assessed that Iran sought Benjamin Netanyahu's election victory in 1996 to weaken the peace process.

Netanyahu won by 30,000 votes after trailing in polls. Since 1996, Israel's right-wing parties have won all but three elections, with leaders opposing territorial compromises with Palestinians.

The ongoing Middle East conflict involving Iran stems from this 30-year history of efforts to prevent regional peace agreements. Iran's actions amplified existing opposition to the Oslo Accords but did not create it; Palestinian politics included views favoring force over negotiation prior to Fatah's founding.

Israeli settlement expansions also contributed to the failure of a final status agreement. Peace efforts continued for two decades, creating administrative zones in the West Bank and economic investments, but violence resulted in hundreds to thousands of deaths.

Support for a two-state solution in Israel declined from majority in the 1990s to about one in five by 2025, per Pew Research Center data. The current conflict exacerbates global economic pressures. Labor shortages, inflation, and energy costs raised grocery prices before the current Iran-related war began, according to economists.

The war has worsened these high bills. No sources contradict the role of Iran's support in the 1990s events, though The Atlantic notes multiple factors in the peace process failure.