Dubai, United Arab Emirates — As Iran threatens to respond to suspects Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh In Tehran, regional militias that the Islamic Republic has armed for decades could play a role in any attack.
Here’s a look at Iran’s history of arming militias, its allies in the region and the role they could play.
Iran’s policy of arming militias took root after the the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Previously, the United States provided important weapons systems, including F-14 Tomcat fighter jets to the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. After the revolution and The hostage crisis at the United States embassy., those shipments and necessary maintenance programs were halted. Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s destroyed much of its arsenal. International sanctions on Iran, even about its nuclear programThey have also prevented it from receiving new weapons, while Israel and the Gulf Arab states allied with the United States have received advanced weapons. While developing its own missile programIran cannot match those sophisticated weapons. It relies on militias as an asymmetric threat to squeeze both Israel and the United States.
Arming Iran began in earnest in the 1980s, with Shiite forces in Lebanon fighting Israel. They became Hezbollah’s militia. Weaponry expanded with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, a longtime enemy of Tehran. Iran strongly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country’s long war. And Iran has continued when the opportunity has arisen, even arming Sunni militants while considering itself the global defender of Shiite Muslims. Those relationships are managed by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, one of the most powerful armed groups in the Middle East.
The militias of Iran’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” include the following:
In Iraq, Iran supported a number of forces that mobilized in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group. These militias, mainly Shiite, sanctioned by the State and known as Popular mobilization forces, have become a powerful political faction, armed with rockets, drones and other weapons. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates its strength at about 180,000 combatants. Other smaller or little-known militant groups have emerged that have also claimed attacks against US forces in the midst of this war between Israel and Hamas. Iranian-backed armed groups attacked U.S. personnel in Iraq more than 60 times between October and Feb. 4, according to the Congressional Research Service. The deadliest came on Jan. 28, when the United States said a drone launched by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias It hit a facility known as Tower 22 in Jordan, on the border with Syria., killing three American soldiers and wounding dozens more. In response, U.S. airstrikes hit more than 85 targets at seven locations, including command and control headquarters, intelligence, rocket and missile centers, munitions and drone storage sites, and other facilities connected to militias or the Expeditionary Force. Guard Quds.
Hezbollah was formed in 1982 amid the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. Israel remains very wary of Hezbollah, particularly because of the vast missile arsenal it is believed to possess and its battle-hardened forces that also supported Assad in Syria. While Israel has sophisticated missile defenses, including its Iron Dome system, a massive barrage of fire from Hezbollah and others at the same time could overwhelm the country. Estimates suggest that Hezbollah has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles. The militia has also been blamed for suicide bombings in the past, including a 1983 bombing in Beirut. which killed 241 US soldiers, although the group maintains that it was not behind the attack. Hezbollah also has drones and surface-to-air missile systems. Hezbollah forces have up to 25,000 full-time fighters, with tens of thousands more in reserves, according to an Israeli military assessment. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in 2021 that the group had 100,000 trained fighters..
Despite being Sunni, both the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Islamic Jihad have received weapons and other material from Iran. However, the groups have been hit hard by Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7 that started the war, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Since then, Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count. Israel’s military says it has killed about 15,000 militants in the war.
The Houthis have occupied Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014 as part of that country’s ruinous war. They follow the Zaydi Shiite faith, a branch of Shiite Islam found almost exclusively in Yemen. Although broadly an insurgent force, the group, with support from Iran, is now able to launch drone and missile attacks that have dramatically disrupted shipping in the Red Sea corridor and Now it even comes to Israel. The US Navy’s efforts to stop maritime attacks have led to the most intense continuous combat its sailors have faced since World War II, but has not yet put an end to the attacks. However, the amount of direct command Iran exercises over the Houthis remains a topic of debate among experts. The Houthis’ attacks have raised their international profile while cracking down on dissent at home. The rebels say they have recruited 200,000 more fighters since they launched their attacks. The rebels and their allies have a fighting force of about 20,000 fighters, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In April, following an Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria, Iran launched 170 bomb-carrying drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles towards Israel. Israel, the United States and other nations shot down many of the projectiles, some of which came from Yemen. Iran could launch a similar attack, but this time Hezbollah could get involved as the militia seeks revenge for Last week’s Israeli attack killed top commander Fouad Shukur.. Such an attack could hit Israeli air defenses, meaning more missile strikes would increase the risk of casualties, and a further escalation that experts fear could lead to a wider regional war.
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