The Islamic Republic of Iran has assembled a coalition consisting mostly of Shiite terrorist proxies — the axis of resistance — that is prepared to stand with Tehran in launching counterstrikes in reaction to the joint preventive attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran’s military facilities and leadership.
The most perilous of Iran’s allies is its primary strategic partner, which is . Israel’s military had been aggressively targeting Hezbollah positions in the lead-up to the U.S. campaign,
Under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement with Israel, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is required to disarm Hezbollah. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Effie Defrin stated on Friday that “In Lebanon, we continue to take daily action against attempts by the Hezbollah terrorist organization .”
He added, “An instance of this is the strike we conducted yesterday in the Baalbek region, during which we targeted ammunition storage facilities and neutralized terrorists from the Radwan Force. We will not permit Hezbollah to reconstruct its capabilities and pose a threat to Israeli civilians.”
A Hezbollah official stated on Wednesday that the jihadi terrorist organization will not intervene militarily if the U.S. delivers “limited” strikes against Iran. Yet the Hezbollah official emphasized they regard any attack against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah as a “red line.”
According to the Israel-based Alma Research and Education Center (Alma), “Hezbollah maintains a substantial combat force, estimated at around active combatants and an additional 30,000–50,000 reservists. Central to its offensive structure is the Radwan Unit, which Hezbollah is making major efforts to rebuild and restore.”
IDF Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, president and founder of Alma in northern Israel, told Digital that the “Lebanese army is not expending significant effort to disarm Hezbollah. The outcome of that is good intentions are just words. As a resident of the north, I have not seen any systematic disarmament.”
Edy Cohen, a Lebanese-born Israeli scholar of Hezbollah, told Digital the “Lebanese population does not see Hezbollah as resistance” because Hezbollah lost its recent war against Israel. He stated Hezbollah failed in its efforts to aid to defeat Israel after its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of the Jewish state.
The second Iranian-backed proxy is the Shiite militia movement in Iraq. Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, told Digital he believes the Shiite militia will join Iran in the war: “Many second-tier Shia leaders, militia lords as I like to call them, harbor ambitions to rise and challenge the aging top-tier leadership. They have accumulated enormous wealth, and the only way they can compete with the old guard is by proving to Iran that they are bold, reckless and ready to fight in defense of Tehran.”
He added, “Their ambitions have blinded their rational thinking. These are militia terrorists with little understanding of the outside world, yet they are dangerously overconfident. They are loose cannons, completely out of control and Iran is prepared to throw them into the fire because they are expendable. That is why you see Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq issuing threats, while older, more established militias like Hezbollah Lebanon have made it clear they will not participate.”
The pro-Iran Iraqi militia accuses the U.S. of bombing its positions and pledged a retaliatory response on Saturday. Kataeb Hezbollah said the U.S. is responsible for a strike that targeted an Iraqi military base housing the Iranian proxy militia. The Iraqi terrorist group says it will “soon start assaulting American bases in response to their attacks.”
The third part of the axis of resistance is the Houthi movement in Yemen.
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have decided to resume missile and drone attacks on shipping routes and on Israel in support of Iran, according to two senior Houthi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because there is no official announcement from the Houthi leadership, per the Associated Press.
One of the officials said the rebels’ first attack could come as soon as “tonight.” Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip is also part of the axis of resistance and Hamas and Iran are partners in their campaigns to destroy the Jewish state.