The Iran-led axis of resistance behind the Syrian crisis | Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Tehran, Iran – For decades, authorities in Iran have been carefully building an “axis of resistance” with like-minded groups to oppose Israel and the United States throughout the region.

The coalition included armed groups and government actors in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, as well as Palestinian groups.

With the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Tehran lost not only a decade-long alliance with the ruling family in Damascus but also major axis corridors.

Amid allegations that the axis has collapsed, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asserted last week that such views are “ignorant” and wrong.

The length of the resistance, he said, “will cover the entire region” since the axis is not hardware that can be destroyed, rather it is a faith and commitment that only strengthens under pressure and will succeed in expelling the US from the region.

Expelling the US, especially from the neighboring country of Iraq, is still the main goal for Tehran to avenge the January 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the top general of Iran and the main architect of the axis.

Blocking access to Hezbollah

With the help of Iran since the early 1980s, Hezbollah grew into the largest political force in Lebanon with a military force stronger than the country's traditional army. The group has taken a number of hits from Israel in the past year, including the assassination of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and top commanders.

A message from Tehran emphasized that “Hezbollah is alive” despite the Israeli attack, with Khamenei saying that the resistance of the Lebanese and Palestinian forces means Israel's “defeat”.

At the moment, it cannot be denied that Tehran has lost a strategic partner in Syria and that will show its regional influence in the short term, according to Tehran-based researcher and writer Ali Akbar Dareini.

“The most important damage to Iran's security is the cutting off of communication with Lebanon. The Tehran-Baghdad-Damascus-Beirut axis made it easier for Iran to reach Hezbollah,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The fall of the Assad government seriously challenges the possibility of rebuilding and re-arming the military network, especially Hezbollah,” said Dareini, adding that Israel will now have the courage to attack the group in Lebanon despite the cease-fire that has held it until now. among many violations.

Israel also took advantage of the fall of al-Assad to move deep into Syria, occupying a large area in its south while launching hundreds of airstrikes across the country.

In the second speech on Tuesday, Khamenei emphasized that “the Zionist regime believes that it is preparing itself through Syria to surround the forces of Hezbollah and overthrow them, but it will be Israel that will overthrow us”.

While Iran has said that it wants to maintain relations with Syria and that the distance of the new ruling party from Israel will be a major decision, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the commander-in-chief of the new administration, says that Syria is tired of wars and does. not wanting to make an enemy of Israel.

Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said this week that it was “unbearable” that Israeli forces were now far from Damascus, but added that they would be “buried in Syria” in the future. .

Other contributions to axis members

The emboldened state of Israel has again attacked Yemen's Houthis, launching Wednesday night strikes on Yemen's infrastructure for the third time since July, killing nine people and hitting an oil facility, ships in a major port, and power stations.

Israeli media also reported that Israel's military and intelligence services may be following their decades-old policy of killing leaders in Yemen to destabilize the group.

They are targeting Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, as well as senior Yemeni military officials and a senior Iranian commander coordinating the efforts of the IRGC's Quds Force in the country, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper.

In addition to the attacks on shipping lanes near its waters in the said protest against Israel's war in Gaza, the Yemeni group continues to attack Israel.

The Houthis announced on Thursday that they shot down two missiles fired at Israel, which appeared to be partially intercepted, with bombs from the same location at the school and hit it without causing any casualties.

The Houthis fired another missile into Tel Aviv on Saturday, injuring 16 people and leaving a crater in a public park. Two interceptor missiles were filmed failing to shoot down the missile, with the group's military spokesman promising more strikes.

In Iraq, the US demanded that Baghdad dismantle the armed groups aligned with Iran in the country, according to Ibrahim Al-Sumaidaie, a senior adviser to the prime minister who said in a television interview on Wednesday that Washington is threatening the military if the Iraqi government. does not agree.

Most of the Shia armed groups aligned with Iran are now part of Iraq's official security forces.

The US has been a staunch ally of Israel throughout its war in Gaza and other actions in the Middle East.

'Off-axis resistance'

The axis can no longer function as a unified network of states and militaries from Iran to the Levant, Vali Nasr, a professor of international affairs and Middle Eastern studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, said.

“It has lost its anchors in the Levant. Although it is still present in Iraq and Yemen, it will not play the strategic role it had until now,” he told Al Jazeera.

“If it will work again, it will have to be in a different way and it will depend on how the situation is in Levant.”

The axis, which has helped Iran's goal of becoming a regional power, achieved one of its best victories during the Syrian civil war – when it kept al-Assad in power with the help of Russia, and pushed back ISIL (ISIS) and other armed groups. .

The axis led by Iran is built on three main pillars that have been replaced by the fall of al-Assad, according to Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

The first was the geographical connection between the key members, supported and extended in the Mediterranean by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen occupying the southern flank, he explained.

The second was the close connection and solidarity between the members, and a policy that meant a threat to one member of the axis was considered a threat to all, causing a collective reaction.

“The third pillar was its ideological foundation: the very idea of ​​resistance. This ideology, characterized by strong anti-American and anti-Israel sentiments, served as a unifying concept behind the axis,” he told Al Jazeera.

Azizi said that the first two pillars have been seriously damaged if not destroyed but the third one is still remaining and may have been strengthened in some respects.

“This dynamic state can be described as 'off-axis resistance'. What we are seeing is that Iran is trying to strengthen the first line of defense in Iraq and Yemen, while the rest of the axis is operating at a much reduced capacity and with much less cooperation than before. “