Iran continues to strengthen its terrorist network throughout the Middle East, from Hamas in the Gaza Strip to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The recent incident in which three American soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a base in Jordan has once again highlighted the activities of the terrorist organizations serving the Iranian regime. The Palestinian issue has also resonated throughout the Middle East, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
Iran’s decision to leave Hamas to face Israel alone risks dismantling the military alliance it has built since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The Houthi rebels, who control large parts of Yemen, announced their entry into the conflict on October 31 by launching drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel from over 1,500 km away. They also began attacking commercial ships sailing in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, disrupting international trade.
The US believes that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps assisted the Houthis in carrying out the attacks on merchant ships, while Iran denies any involvement. Hezbollah, a Shiite-Lebanese terrorist organization, has received significant support from Iran and has been using it against Israeli targets. Al-Ashtar Brigades, a Shiite terrorist organization based in Bahrain supported by Iran, is working to overthrow the monarchy and annex its territory to Iran.
The Patmion Division, a Syrian militia established in 2014, is considered loyal to the Assad regime and consists mainly of Shiite Muslims and Persians. The Hezbollah Brigades, founded in 2007 following the US invasion of Iraq, is an umbrella group of Shiite militias considered one of the most heavily armed terrorist organizations operating in the service of Iran. They view American soldiers on Iraqi soil as foreign occupiers and actively work to remove them.
Overall, Iran’s terrorist network continues to pose a significant threat throughout the Middle East.
