Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’: The proxy forces shaping Mideast conflicts

In his announcement announcing U.S. strikes against Iran, President Trump attacked the Islamic Republic’s “proxies” in the region.

“From Lebanon to Yemen, Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained and financed terrorist militias that have drenched the world in blood and guts,” Trump said on Saturday. he said. Trump said the United States was committed to ensuring that Iran’s proxies “no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces.”

Iran has indeed provided military, financial and technical support to various organizations that Iran calls the “Axis of Resistance.” Far-flung militias represent important regional projections of Tehran’s power, as envoys from the Iranian nation to conflict-plagued Arab countries.

Most of the groups, like Iran itself, consist of members of the Shiite branch of Islam, a minority of global Muslims, but large populations in the “Shiite Crescent” that stretches from Iran to Iraq, Syria to Lebanon, and the Mediterranean. Groups that reflect Iranian positions embrace the fight against what they call US-Israeli hegemony and the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.

Iran’s proxies differ from mostly Sunni Muslim militant organizations such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, an offshoot of Al Qaeda responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Despite a common hostility towards the United States and Israel, Shiite and Sunni militias are implacable sectarian enemies. Al Qaeda and the Islamic State generally view Shiites as infidels and view Iran as a mortal enemy.

Here are some Iranian-backed groups:

Hamas

The only group Trump mentions by name is Hamas (“Islamic Resistance Movement”), which was founded in 1987 after the first intifada (or uprising) against Israel began.

The Sunni Islamist organization did not receive large-scale aid from Iran until the 1990s, and according to Israeli media reports, Israel provided early support as a counterweight to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, where it acts as both a military force and a de facto government that distributes social services.

It was Hamas that launched cross-border attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people.

251 more people were taken hostage. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, the ensuing Israel-Hamas war resulted in the deaths of more than 70,000 Palestinians; It’s a tally deemed reliable by the United Nations and other independent observers.

The war, Israel’s latest and most comprehensive offensive in the Gaza Strip, has greatly weakened Hamas. Israel says it has killed thousands of fighters, including several senior Hamas commanders.

Although Iran is Shiite and Hamas is Sunni, a common opposition to Israel unites the two.

Iran and its proxies accuse Israel of waging a campaign of mass murder, oppression and ethnic cleansing against indigenous Palestinians, accusations that Israel denies. Hamas is a long-time rival of the secular Fatah group, which governs Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank.

Another militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is a more direct proxy for Iran than Hamas in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Hezbollah

Relatives of Hezbollah’s top commander Taleb Sami Abdullah hold up his photo during a funeral in Lebanon in 2024. Sami was killed in an Israeli military attack.

(Bilal Hussein / Associated Press)

Hezbollah (“Party of God”) is the jewel in the crown of Iran’s proxy allies.

Hezbollah, a predominantly Shiite Islamist group, has become a major military and political force in Lebanon, north of Israel, for decades.
With Iranian patronage, Hezbollah survived the chaos of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90) and Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon and its subsequent 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

Posters of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, tall ornate walls and lampposts in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah’s stronghold.

Hezbollah also has seats in the Lebanese Parliament and, like Hamas, operates a large social service network and resists demands for disarmament. Hezbollah sent troops to neighboring Syria during the country’s civil war (2011-24) to aid the government of then-President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time ally of Iran.

Hezbollah has frequently clashed with Israel, including a 34-day war in 2006. Israel’s military action in 2024 has significantly weakened Hezbollah’s capabilities. The killing of the group’s long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike was a major blow. Nasrallah did some of his work in Qom, Iran, the center of Shiite science.

Houthis

Protesters loyal to the Houthi movement rally in Yemen in 2023.

(Muhammad Hamud / Getty Images)

Officially known as Ansar Allah (“Supporters of God”), the Houthis live in Yemen, at the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is considered the poorest country in the Middle East. Like Hamas, the Houthis emerged as a power before receiving significant support from Iran.

The 2014 civil war resulted in the Houthis taking control of much of northern and northwestern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and a strategic area of ​​the Red Sea coast.

According to Washington, Tehran has provided weapons, training and other aid to the Houthis; However, the Houthis belong to a branch of Shiite Islam that is different from the “Twelver” sect prevalent in Iran.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the Houthis have been carrying out drone and missile attacks on Israel and on ships in the Red Sea that they claim, often incorrectly, to be linked to Israel. Last year, Trump said he was ending the bombing campaign targeting the Houthis after the group agreed to stop attacks. “They are tough and warriors,” he said of the Houthis.

The unofficial name of Ansar Allah, Houthis, comes from the surname of the late political and religious leader Hussein Bedreddin Houthi.

Iraqi groups

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein blocked Iran’s influence in his country for years, seeing Tehran as a threat. Neighboring countries waged a bloody war in the 1980s, initiated by Hussein and supported by Washington.

But the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Hussein and his Baathist rule opened Shiite-majority Iraq to a large-scale Iranian presence. A number of Iran-allied Iraqi militias have emerged in Iraq, most of which are hostile to the US presence.

These mostly Shiite militias are now gathered under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces. The groups are technically part of the Iraqi armed forces, but some receive assistance and training from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In January 2020, during Trump’s first term as president, he ordered a drone strike near Baghdad airport that killed Qasem Soleimani, a key Iranian general and head of the elite Quds Force. Several high-ranking militia commanders were also killed.

Arabic-speaking Soleimani was a central figure in the formation of Iran’s proxy group. He aided Iran-linked militias targeting US troops and bases in Iraq, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of US soldiers, according to the Pentagon.

Times writer Nabih Bulos contributed to this report.