The Unexpected Ally: Who's Supporting Iran-Backed Militias?

Attacks by Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East – including the first to kill U.S. Service members – have dramatically heightened the risk of a broader regional war spreading. 4 days ago · Iran 's proxies Iran has invested heavily in a network of proxy allies across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Iran's military , security and intelligence services have long assisted its Shia allies in Syria to help prop up Bashar Al Assad's government there. Strategically, as well as Assad's army, it has also backed several pro-government militia groups in case his regime falls. However, neither power appears willing — at least for now — to escalate the confrontation by providing direct military support to Iran or engaging in a standoff with Israel and the US. Houthis (Ansar Allah, Yemen) – A Zaydi Shiite rebel group fighting Saudi-backed forces in Yemen, supported militarily and ideologically by Iran. Palestinian militant groups – Primarily Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - both receive varying degrees of funding, weapons, and training from Iran. Israel's powerful ally the US has openly discussed attacking, yet only one Iran-backed militant group has stepped in to defend it. Here's a closer look at the key alliances in the Iran -Israel conflict and how these allies are responding. Yet Iran has succeeded in projecting military power across a large swath of the Middle East by supporting local militias with arms, training and financial backing. The groups receive. As Israel, with crucial American support, wages an all-out war against Hamas triggered by the militant group’s Oct. 7 rampage, the two allies face simultaneous attacks from a strengthening alliance of other armed militant groups backed by Iran and sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Militant groups backed by Iran , which supports Hamas and for years has engaged in a shadow war with Israel, have joined in. These groups — part of Iran ’s so-called axis of resistance — have. Israel, a major U.S. Ally, faces regular attacks from Tehran-backed groups — namely Hamas , Hezbollah , and Palestinian Islamic Jihad—who share Iran’s animosity toward Israel and oppose the.