The Puppeteer Behind the Curtain: Iran’s Extensive Middle East Involvement
Iranian military member on Islamic Republic of Iran Iran Army Day. Photo by Ehsan Berenjkar.
In the last two weeks, the fear of a multi-front war looms large as the international community witnesses conflict emerging in the Middle East. On October 7th, the recognized terrorist group, Hamas, massacred, kidnapped, and raped Israeli women, children, and elderly civilians both from the safety of their homes and from the Nova Peace Music Festival in the south of Israel, instigating back and forth fighting for the next 3 weeks to the present. As the war rages on, thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured.
Iran, once merely a looming threat, has now begun to rear its head in the Middle East, threatening not only Israel and the U.S., but the western world as a whole. A war with Iran is no longer farfetched, and could even be imminent. Images and videos of the warfare have prevailed in news sources everywhere. And yet, though devastating to witness, it seems as many Americans regard the war as distant.
This sentiment is misguided, as the attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians is not a war confined to the borders of the Middle East. It is not just the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once again making news headlines. The war we are seeing play out on the news, one seemingly far removed from our reality, is much closer to home. The current war between the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas is a proxy war of Iranian forces in the region against those of the West. Throughout this article, the conflict will be reviewed from a U.S. national security standpoint to further understand the microcosmic theater in the Middle Eastern war that is unfolding.
It begins with the Iranian revolution of 1979, where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah’s rule, and replaced the Shah’s secular authoritarian government with the Shiite theocracy led by Khomeini, known to the revolutionaries as the “Supreme Leader.” Khomeini pioneered the modern hatred against the West by implanting fundamental trepidation towards western powers and through extremist ideology. Today, this outlook is evident in Iran’s foreign policy agenda towards the United States and Israel: for instance, the development of weapons programs, bolstering of regional proxy-militias, and a proliferating nuclear program.
Since the revolution, the divide between the Iranian regime and its civilians has widened. In 2022, Masha Amini was arrested by the Iranian morality police for not wearing a hijab and later died while in police custody. Spurred by Amini’s unjust death, civilians rose up against the Islamic State igniting the movement known as Woman Life Freedom. This glimmer of hope for the Iranian people was quickly squashed as Iranian security forces indiscriminately detained and unjustly prosecuted thousands of peaceful protesters, killing at least 520 civilians in the process. Evidently, the regime has continued steadfast in maintaining its extremist Shiite values and devotion to wilayat al faqih, or guard ship, of the Islamic Jurist.
Iran’s foreign policy is aimed at becoming the hegemon of the region and diminishing western influence by exporting the revolution throughout the Middle East, destroying Israel, and opposing the United States. How does Iran attempt this immense undertaking without directly involving itself? Through proxy-armies and the development of a nuclear power program.
Iran accomplishes the former by establishing militias around Israel and weaponizing the Shia crescent–take President Bashar Al Asad in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite militia groups in Iraq, Houthi rebels in Yemen, underground Shia militant groups in Bahrain, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip (as well as in the West Bank, with additional presence in Lebanon and Syria), and finally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Through its proxy-armies and powers, Iran does not necessarily need to physically involve itself in waging a war against Israel and instead poses an existential threat from afar. United States President Joe Biden’s rapid and assertive response to the IDF-Hamas War is a reflection of the current influence Iran has on its closest ally in the region, thereby posing a direct threat to international stability and the United States. Biden and the U.S. administration hoped to deter other Iranian proxy-armies, such as Hezbollah, from attacking Israel and escalating the situation. In his speech following the October 7th terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, President Biden decisively warned, “My message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago: Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”
Seeing this play out, the U.S. has taken accelerated steps to provide Israel with security resources, mainly naval forces in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Within hours of the terror attacks of October 7th, the U.S deployed warships and aircraft carriers to the region. Since then, the U.S. continues to deploy warships, aircraft carriers, Iron Dome munitions, special forces, and weapons to Israel. Consequently, activity from proxy-armies has been somewhat minimal, likely due to the U.S.’s strongman approach to the conflict. Houthi forces in Yemen launched multiple drones and three land attack cruisers along the Red Sea which were quickly shot down by a U.S. warship as they headed in the direction of Israel. Hezbollah has not shown direct involvement just yet, other than drones in the south of Lebanon, and some skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border. However, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem has stated that “Israel will pay a high price” once they launch a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip. In the case where Hezbollah becomes involved, the U.S.’s involvement in the region may increase.
Aside from being the U.S.’s biggest security threat, Iran also threatens democratic peace worldwide with this nuclear power.
The latter part of Iran’s methodology in combating the West hinges on the Iranian Nuclear Power Program. In 2015, six major world actors (U.S., Russia, China, Germany, France and U.K.) came together and created the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in hopes of deterring Iran’s nuclear proliferation. The JCPOA called for inspection of Iranian nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iranian compliance to regulations in order to halt further development of a nuclear weapon. In return, economic sanctions on Iran would be lifted. In 2018, however, former President Donald Trump withdrew from this agreement, embarrassing President Rouhani’s moderate stance and pushing the majles (the Iranian parliament) further into anti-western sentiment. Since then, the IAEA has reported the finding of uranium particles enriched to 83.7%, indicating Iran’s ability to build several nuclear weapons. Moreover, Iran has made it increasingly difficult for the IAEA to inspect their nuclear capabilities and facilities, so it is not fully clear what Iranian nuclear capabilities are at the moment. On October 18, restrictions on Iran’s missile activity under Security Council Resolution 2231 expired—a grave concern for the United States and the international world as a whole. These very tangible hazards posed by Iran are overlooked as the world turns their head to the current war, focusing on Hamas and Israel.
Another country of note that is directly threatened by Iran’s objective for regional hegemony is Saudi Arabia, which is geographically paralleled south from Iran and is therefore at risk of Iranian intent first hand. Consequently, Saudi Arabia has historically relied on the United States for international cooperation and protection. In recent years, as the United States has decreased its involvement in the Middle East, we have seen Saudi Arabia turn to other forces. For example, this past year China brokered a restoration of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, fueling worries throughout the West that their decades-long, dependable ally was siding with the enemy. Thus, many were relieved when hearing the news of Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia engaging in the process of a trilateral normalization agreement with Israel and the United States. Saudi Arabia’s vulnerability to facing an Iranian threat has resulted in MBS attempting many routes to cope with and address the peril. This trilateral agreement is vehemently opposed by Iran and the recent developments in the region have resulted in the postponement of the normalization’s enactment.
Although all of the aforementioned components play a part in the war we are seeing take place today, Palestinians and Israelis remain caught in the crossfire. It is these civilians who are tragically killed and left to suffer. As the Palestinians call for statehood, human rights, and security, Iran calls for the destruction of Israel, historically championing the Palestinian people as pawns for their cause. Since the founding of Hamas in the 1980s, Iran has funded and trained Hamas fighters. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Troops (IRGC) and Hezbollah trained Hamas in the production of suicide bombs, culminating in what would become the First Intifada. This cooperation continued throughout the Second Intifada (2000-2005), as Hezbollah smuggled weapons and materials for the creation of bombs into Gaza for Hamas’s usage against Israeli civilians. These intifadas resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000 Palestinians and an estimated 1,400 Israelis. Even today, Iran continues to provide Hamas with weapons, technology, and training.
The Wall Street Journal has evinced that yet again, Iran has played a major role in Hamas’ recent attacks. In fact, officers of the Quds force, part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Forces, trained around 500 Hamas militants in Iran before the October 7th attack.
At the moment, Iran has worked hard to ensure the world’s focus in the Middle East is on the conflict between Palestine and Israel. As a result, the international community has allowed Iran to wipe its hands clean of the warfare. But while the international community ignores the Iranian presence, Israelis and Palestinians continue to suffer. It is important for the U.S. and its citizens to recognize the threat and dangers that Iran poses through its extensive influence in the Middle East.
Ann Mizrahi (GS ‘24) is a staff writer at CPR majoring in Political Science and Psychology. Ann is interested in national security issues relating to the Middle East and believes it is crucial that individuals learn more about the complex nuances of the region