Iran's terrorist network throughout the Middle East continues to strengthen - from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, through Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq, to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The recent incident in which three American soldiers were killed in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack on a base in Jordan once again brought the terrorist organizations operating in service to the Iranian regime to headlines.
The Palestinian issue resonates deeply throughout the entire Middle East, as seen clearly since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
However, Iran has left Hamas alone to face Israel's fury, and thus, Iran risks dismantling the military alliances it built up since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 when it once again entered into a conflict with the West.
The Houthis
The Houthi rebels, who control large parts of Yemen, announced their entry into the conflict on October 31, when they began launching drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel, which is located over 1,500 km from Yemen.
In November, the Houthis expanded their terrorist operations and began attacking commercial ships sailing in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, particularly those ships destined to reach Israel.
After the United States and Britain decided to retaliate against the rebels, the Houthis announced that they would also attack American and British ships as revenge for the airstrikes. The attacks by the Houthis widely disrupted international trade between Europe and Asia, which led some shipping companies to reconsider their route.
Hezbollah in Yemen and Lebanon
The US believes that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps assisted the Houthis in carrying out the attacks on merchant ships in the region, while Iran continues to deny any involvement. Earlier this month, sources familiar with the details told Reuters that senior commanders in the Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah are present on the ground in Yemen and are assisting in monitoring the attacks against merchant ships. Consequently, the US announced that it re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization in response.
In the last decade, the Shiite-Lebanese terrorist organization has received significant support from the Islamic Republic and has been using it against Israeli targets since the morning of October 8, when it decided to open a front against Israel on its northern border. Hezbollah was established in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and serves as an example of an organization operating in the service of Tehran throughout the Middle East and as a partner of Iran's Shiite Islamic ideology.
Al-Ashtar Brigades
Al-Ashtar Brigades is a Shiite terrorist organization based in Bahrain that is supported by Iran and has been designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the US, Canada, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The organization's operatives primarily work to overthrow the monarchy in the small Persian Gulf country and annex its territory to the territory of Iran.
Patmion Division
A Syrian militia that was established in 2014 as a result of the rise of the Islamic State, it is considered loyal to the Assad regime. Among its members are mainly Shiite Muslims and Persians of "Zahra" descent. According to the reports, its operatives are mainly between the ages of 20 and 30, often recruited due to economic hardships and the marginalization of their status as migrants.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Iranian government has reportedly offered payment and legal protection to individuals who served in the organization. According to various reports, the organization has between 20,000 and 50,000 fighters.
Hezbollah brigades
The Hezbollah Brigades, or Kataib Hezbollah, is an organization founded in 2007 following the US invasion of Iraq and is considered one of the most heavily armed terrorist organizations that is operating in the service of Iran.
It is an umbrella group of Shiite militias. After its establishment, the organization gained notoriety for its deadly attacks against military and diplomatic targets in the late 2000s, using a variety of military tools such as improvised explosive devices, rockets, and a variety of bombs.
In 2009, the United States blacklisted the organization on its terrorist list. The group adheres to a Shiite ideology that views the borders between Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon as only temporary. It views the American soldiers on Iraqi soil as foreign occupiers and actively works to remove them.
The organization operated alongside various Shiite militias that fought against Sunni rebels during the Syrian civil war and has continued to operate in Syria ever since. The organization has thousands of fighters and an arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets, and ballistic missiles.