In every failed state, every destabilized country, and every major conflict across the Middle East, one pattern emerges with striking consistency: Iranian fingerprints. From the Houthis disrupting global shipping in Yemen to militias attacking American forces in Iraq, from Hezbollah’s arsenal threatening Israel to networks supporting extremists in Afghanistan, Iran has systematically built the region’s most extensive proxy empire.
Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has exported Islamic Jihadi revolutions, building built a network of proxies across the Middle East, with Tehran’s allies among more than a dozen major militias that challenged local and neighboring governments, operating in at least six countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Syria and Yemen.
Though speculation about the threat of Iran’s nuclear program has dominated recent headlines, Iran’s threat through proxy armies is well-documented and has cost countless lives as Iran has become the Middle East’s primary destabilizing force. Operating at arm’s length or through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Tehran is able to largely hide behind plausible deniability as Iran-backed Shia groups slaughter Sunnis, Christians, Jews, as well as religious and ethnic minorities such as Yazidis, Druze, Alawites and others across the region.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force (IRGC-QF) is Iran’s elite special operations unit responsible for extraterritorial operations, with “Quds” meaning “Jerusalem” in Arabic, reflecting their stated goal of “liberating” Jerusalem from Israel. The IRGC-QF serves as Iran’s central command for training, funding, arming, and coordinating terrorist groups and militant proxies worldwide, providing weapons, military advisors, financial support, and strategic coordination. It was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in 2019.
Hezbollah is Iran’s most successful proxy, a militia powerful enough to dominate Lebanese territory. In 2020, the U.S. State Department estimated Iran provided $700 million annually. That investment built a force with thousands of rockets aimed at Israel and deep political control over Lebanon. Hezbollah’s military strength now exceeds that of the Lebanese army, forming a parallel state loyal to Tehran rather than Beirut. Its entrenchment reflects Iran’s broader objective: not merely sponsoring terrorism, but establishing permanent, hard-to-remove power bases across the region.
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