For many years, Iran has built a wide network of armed groups operating in countries throughout the Middle East, which began attacking American targets and foreign ships since Washington sided with Israel after October 7.
They all oppose Israel and the US and are part of what they call the "axis of resistance", although there are debates about the extent of their independence and Tehran's control over them. Following the killing of three American soldiers in an attack in Jordan last month, Washington launched a series of attacks against the militias in Iraq and Syria, at the same time as the campaign She is managing against the Houthis in Yemen.
Hezbollah militiamen step on the Israeli flag at the Jerusalem Day parade in Baghdad, Iraq, July 25, 2014/Reuters
Hezbollah battalions in Iraq
In an attempt to obscure their activities, several Shiite militias supported by Iran have joined together in a kind of loose coalition that has accepted responsibility for more than 150 attacks against American forces in Syria and Iraq.
One of the main militias in its ranks is the Hezbollah Brigades, which is believed to have led the deadly attack in Jordan last month.
Founded in the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, it built a reputation for deadly attacks against military and diplomatic targets in the 2000s, using a combination of sniper fire, rocket and mortar bombs, and side charges.
The US declared it a terrorist organization in 2009.
Its founder and leader was Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, who also held Iranian citizenship and was killed in an American drone attack in 2020, along with Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, at Baghdad International Airport.
It holds a supranational Shiite ideology, which sees the borders between Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as Western structures and the American soldiers in Iraq as occupying foreigners who must be driven out by force.
It fought alongside other Shiite militias against predominantly Sunni rebels during the Syrian civil war and has continued to operate in Syria ever since.
It has thousands of fighters and an arsenal of drones, rockets and short-range ballistic missiles, according to Iraqi officials and members of the organization. The United States has attacked positions, bases and training and logistics centers of Hezbollah brigades several times over the past few years, including during the current round of fighting.
On Wednesday, Katb An American drone attacked a vehicle in Baghdad containing the organization's senior Abu Bakr al-Saadi, who was identified as the one who led the attacks on the American forces in the area.
On January 24, targets of Hezbollah battalions were attacked in their stronghold in Juraf al-Sahar, about 50 km south of Baghdad, in retaliation for drone and missile attacks.
A military parade by the Houthi rebels to mark their takeover of the capital Sana'a, Yemen, September 21, 2023/Reuters
The Houthi movement, which controls large parts of Yemen, announced that it entered the conflict on October 31, and launched drones and missiles at Israel more than a thousand kilometers from their seat in Sana'a. In
November, the Shiite rebels expanded their involvement in the war by attacking ships in the southern Red Sea, claiming that they target ships belonging to the Israelis or on their way to Israeli ports - although some of the ships that were attacked had no known Israeli connections.
Following the campaign, the United States and Britain launched airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in January. The Houthis announced that all the ships and warships of the United States and Britain Those who participate in "aggression" will be targets for the organization. The attacks disrupted international trade on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, and led several shipping companies to reroute their vessels. The
US believes that Iran's Revolutionary Guards are helping to plan and execute the missile attacks and the Houthis' drones. Iran denies such involvement, but last month it was reported by Reuters that commanders from the Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah are on the ground in Yemen and are helping to direct and monitor the Houthis' attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis have denied any involvement by Hezbollah or Iran.
At the same time, the United States returned the Houthis to its list of terrorist organizations in response to the shipping attacks.
Members of the Revolutionary Guards in an exercise in East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022/Reuters
Hezbollah
Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli targets on the Lebanon-Israel border almost daily since October 8, leading to the heaviest exchange of fire between the sides since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
Hezbollah claims that its attacks helped stretch the Israeli army and at the same time displaced tens of thousands of Israelis who fled their homes near the border.
Israeli airstrikes and artillery also forced tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee their homes in the south.
More than 150 Hezbollah fighters and at least 25 Lebanese civilians were killed, in addition to at least nine Israeli soldiers and a civilian.
Amos Hochstein, an emissary of the American administration is leading the efforts to prevent the violence from degenerating into an even bigger conflict as Israel warns.
Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, has served as a model for other Tehran-backed groups across the region, even advising or training some of them.
The organization is considered stronger than the Lebanese state and is a partner of Iran's Islamic-Shia ideology.
It is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
Patmion Division
The Fatmiun Brigade is an Afghan militia trained by the Revolutionary Guards, and deployed in Syria to assist Bashar Assad's regime.
Its fighters were recruited from among the millions of Afghan refugees living in Iran, most of whom belong to the Hazara Shiite minority persecuted by the Sunni Taliban regime.
Several of its fighters were killed in US strikes over the weekend, including Ali Husseini, a militia commander whose photos alongside Soleimani were published on social media after his death.
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Hezbollah battalions
Houthis