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Facing a Big Test, Iran's "Axis of Resistance" Flails

(New York Times) Ben Hubbard - The idea was simple: When a big war with Israel broke out, all the members of the Iranian-backed network of militias known as the "axis of resistance" would join the fight in their shared goal of destroying the Jewish state. Iran invested tremendous resources to build each group's fighting abilities and connect them to one another. But the axis's response as Israel has pummeled Hizbullah in Lebanon has so far been feeble, suggesting that the axis is weaker than expected. Israel's swift series of attacks on Hizbullah over the last two weeks has shaken the other members of the axis, who seemed to have been unprepared for the possibility that Hizbullah could suffer such crippling losses. Tehran appears to be torn between a desire to retaliate against Israel and fear that doing so might lead Israel to attack Iran directly. "They are in a strategic bind, because if they do nothing it will further weaken them and weaken their credibility and their deterrence," said Kawa Hassan, a fellow at the Stimson Center's Middle East and North Africa Program. But if the Iranians respond, that would risk provoking Israel at a time when it appears "really ready to go after them."
2024-10-01 00:00:00
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