Netanyahu, Iran, and Iranian-backed groups walk tightly spun tripwire

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei walk a tripwire

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Iran and its Arab allies may not want an out Middle East war, but that has not stopped them from increasingly engaging Israel on multiple fronts.

The Iranian-backed strategy aims to pressure Israel to agree to a Gaza ceasefire by sapping its military strength and fueling mounting domestic pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The strategy is also geared towards enhancing the Islamic Republic’s regional influence at a time of mounting widespread anger at Israel and the United States, the Jewish state’s main military and political supporter.

This month, Iraq quietly allowed Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels to open offices in Baghdad as the United States and Iraq finalised plans for the withdrawal of most US troops from the country over the next two years, leaving only a small residual force in the northern Kurdistan region.

Iran’s strategy is proving effective militarily and politically, even though it builds as much on bluster as on kinetic action and threatens to undermine newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian’s efforts to reengage with the West.