BEIRUT, July 16 — For decades, Iran has quietly built a network of allied militias and political groups across the Middle East, a constellation often called the “Axis of Resistance.” It is a strategy that allows Tehran to project power and threaten U.S. allies and interests without ever directly engaging in conflict. The network is sprawling. It includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and various Shia militias in Iraq and Syria.
According to U.S. State Department reports and UN Security Council resolutions, Iran provides these groups with funding, weapons, training, and logistical support.
Hezbollah: The Crown Jewel
Hezbollah, founded in 1982 with Iranian support, is perhaps the most formidable member of the axis. Israeli intelligence estimates the group possesses an arsenal of approximately 150,000 rockets and missiles. That stockpile, built up over years with Iranian backing, gives Hezbollah the ability to strike deep into Israeli territory.
The group’s relationship with Tehran is not merely transactional. It is ideological and strategic, rooted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the shared goal of opposing Israeli and American influence in the region.
Hamas and the Palestinian Factions
Before the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas received Iranian support of approximately $100 million per year, according to U.S. officials. That funding, along with weapons and training, helped transform the group from a local Islamist movement into a military force capable of launching a major cross-border assault. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller but more hardline faction in Gaza, also receives Iranian support.
Both groups are part of the axis, though their primary focus remains the Palestinian cause rather than the broader regional ambitions of Tehran.
The Houthis and the Gulf
In Yemen, the Houthi movement has received Iranian anti-ship missiles, drones, and ballistic missiles since at least 2015. These weapons have allowed the group to threaten shipping lanes in the Red Sea and strike targets deep inside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Houthis, who follow the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam, have become a key Iranian proxy in the Arabian Peninsula.
Their war against the Saudi-led coalition has tied down some of the region’s most powerful militaries and diverted attention from Iran’s nuclear program.
The IRGC and the Quds Force
Coordinating this entire network is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. The IRGC was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in 2019. The Quds Force, its elite overseas arm, has been led by Esmail Qaani since the 2020 assassination of his predecessor, Qasem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.
Qaani, a veteran IRGC commander, has worked to maintain and expand the network of proxies that Soleimani built. Under his leadership, the axis has continued to operate across the region, from the Golan Heights to the Persian Gulf.
What This Means for the Region
Iran’s proxy strategy is not new, but it has become increasingly sophisticated. By funding and arming groups across the Middle East, Tehran can strike at U.S. allies—Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE—without risking a direct confrontation with American forces. For the families living in the path of these proxies, the consequences are immediate.
Rocket attacks, drone strikes, and naval blockades are not abstract concepts; they are daily realities. The network Iran has built is not just a geopolitical tool.
It is a machine that produces violence, displacement, and fear.
Looking Ahead
As of July 2026, the Axis of Resistance remains intact. The U.S. administration under President Donald Trump has continued to apply maximum pressure on Iran, but the proxy network has proven resilient. The question now is whether Tehran will continue to rely on these groups as its primary means of projecting power, or whether it will eventually seek a different path.
For the people of the Middle East, the answer will determine much of what comes next.
