Axis Of Resistance: Iran seeks to preserve weakened network; Iraq now key test
This article examines Iran's strategic use of its regional proxy network, known as the 'Axis of Resistance,' to project power and deter adversaries. It highlights how Tehran is currently struggling to maintain this network amidst internal pressures, sanctions, and shifting geopolitical landscapes.
Why it matters
Understanding Iran's proxy strategy is essential for analyzing stability in the Middle East and the potential for future regional conflicts.
Mothers and the Islamic Republic of Iran have something unexpected in common: they both understand that it takes a village to raise a child, though what a child and a village mean to each of them differs.For Iran, the child is its influence in the Middle East and its village, the network it has built over the years in this same region –– Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen and armed groups elsewhere, each with its own capabilities, interests and relationship with Tehran.The groups operate in very different political and military environments, but together they give Iran a way to contest its adversaries without committing its own forces to every battlefield.But the village is not as strong as it once was, and the recent conflict has shown where its foundations have cracked or given way.How Tehran keeps it standing comes down to four moves: pacing its…
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