Iran arms, funds and advises armed movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and the Palestinian territories: Hezbollah, the Iraqi militias, the Houthis, Hamas. Iran and the movements call themselves the Axis of Resistance. Israel, the United States and most Arab governments call them Iran's proxies. Since 2024 the network has lost its Syrian ally and much of Hezbollah's leadership, and since the war of 2026 the Houthis have become its most active part.
The wider confrontation, its history and each side's full account: Iran in regional and international confrontation.
Where it stands · September 2026
Houthi forces seized a key Red Sea port and islands in Yemen on 11 September. On 16 September US officials met Houthi representatives in Oman, where the Houthis pledged not to attack American and Israeli ships. On 17 September Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on Iran. On 18 September Pakistan pledged to defend Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks. On 22 September the G7 urged Iran to stop arming the Houthis in Yemen. On 29 September US troops left Iraq after two decades.
What the dispute is about
Whose forces these are. Each movement grew from a local cause: Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, the American occupation of Iraq, the civil war in Yemen, the Palestinian question. Each also takes Iranian weapons, money and direction. Iran says it supports peoples who resist. Its opponents say Iran fights its wars with other nations' sons and on other nations' soil. For the governments of Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen the question is closer: armed groups stronger than the state, answering to a foreign capital.
