EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — principally through its Quds Force expeditionary arm — has spent four decades constructing the most sophisticated state-sponsored terrorist and insurgent network in the contemporary world. What Tehran calls the "Axis of Resistance" is, in operational terms, a distributed force-multiplication architecture: a constellation of ...
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For more than four decades, Iran has transformed local militant groups into one of the world's most sophisticated networks of proxy forces. Here's how that strategy reshaped the Middle East—and why it may be approaching its limits.By Dan FefermanIn early July 2026, Houthi fighters sank two commercial bulk carriers in the Red Sea, once again disrupting one of the world's busiest maritime ...
Flags of Yemen, Palestine, Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah, Iraq, Iraqi Hashed Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces or PMF) paramilitary forces, and Iran are raised during a denouncing Israel and ...
Iran uses a flexible proxy network to project power while avoiding direct conflict, prioritizing operational effectiveness and loyalty over strict ideological alignment. Despite pressure that has weakened major groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis, the network is adapting through decentralization and remains resilient rather than in decline.
Proxy activity is expanding into Europe, with ...
Jun 8, 2026 ... Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has declared complete military control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz. In a statement ...