Axis of Resistance Unifies and Expands Military Pressure Against US and Israel

The regional network backed by Tehran has undergone a significant strategic shift after facing intense military pressure, including direct bombings of Iran by Israeli forces. According to researchers Nadwa al-Dossari and Armen Mohammadin of the Middle East Institute, these cascading strikes accelerated a crucial reposicionamento within Tehran to transform the alliance into a ‘front of resistance unificada’ more closely coordinated, capable of synchronizing military, political, and strategic pressures across multiple theaters of operations.

Houthi Rise and the Red Sea Naval Blockade

As traditional anchors like Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza absorbed years of debilitating strikes, the Houthi movement in Yemen emerged as a central protagonist for the alliance’s next phase. Operating from territory they have occupied since the past decade, the group launched drones and missiles over distances of roughly two thousand kilometers toward Israel following the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

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In the Gulf, the group announced a naval blockade targeting Saudi shipping lanes. According to Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force—the branch of the Revolutionary Guard responsible for coordinating with regional militias—Bab el-Mandeb is one of the winning cards of the Resistance Front and, if necessary, other cards will also be revealed.

Expanded Milita Attacks and Gulf Infrastructural Damage

Within a framework of shared military costs, the Houthis and the Popular Mobilization Forces—a predominantly Shia militia grouping in Iraq—stepped up strikes against United States positions and Gulf states in recent weeks. Satellite imagery revealed major damage to at least one large petroleum facility in Jizan, located a few dozen kilometers from the Yemeni border, according to reporting cited from regional developments.

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These escalations carry notable risks in a coalition of groups with distinct domestic agendas. In Yemen, Saudi officials have weighed launching a major air and ground offensive to keep the Red Sea shipping route open, based on reporting from the British newspaper The Guardian. Ali Ahmadi, a researcher at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, noted to CNN that each of these groups possesses its own identity and its own interests, but is also intertwined with Iran due to deeply shared interests, both of an ideological and geopolitical nature.

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Long-Term Resilience Beyond Battlefield Setbacks

Despite severe operational losses, analysts emphasize that the network’s survival relies on more than military hardware. Ahmed Nagi, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told AFP that the alliance is facing an existential threat does not necessarily mean that it will disintegrate, pointing out that political, social, and religious ties run deep among the member groups and resist collapse from battlefield setbacks alone.

While negotiating the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding with the US, Iran worked simultaneously to strengthen the bonds that unite the Axis of Resistance. Nadwa al-Dossari and Armen Mohammadin, Middle East Institute researchers