Facing a parliamentary election in March, the Islamic Republic is trying to distract attention away from its economic woes with a show of strength.
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi, right, greets the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, at the start of their meeting at his office in Tehran in June 2023.
(Iranian Presidency Office, via AP)
Israel and Hezbollah are engaged in tit-for-tat attacks, but a diplomatic path still exists to avoid an escalation.
Divisions: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will find it hard to negotiate a peace deal with support from the extreme right of his cabinet.
EPA-EFE/Ronen Zvulun/pool
Facing opposition to a peace deal within his own cabinet, Israel’s prime minister will find it difficult to agree an international peace deal and hold on to power.
It appears that, for now at least, Iran is happy to allow Gaza to be the epicentre of Middle East conflict. But all that could change quickly.
A shell that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explodes over a house in al-Bustan, a Lebanese border village with Israel, on October 15.
Hussein Malla/AP
Conflict has escalated between Joe Biden and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over the conduct of the Israel-Hamas war. But a national security veteran says the US has little leverage over Israel.
Israel is fighting a broad coalition of armed Palestinian militias in Gaza − and then there’s Hezbollah, just across the border in Lebanon.
Left: Families of the hostages during the March for the Hostages on November 18, 2023 in Jerusalem.
Right: Palestinians flee the northern part of the Gaza Strip on November 10, 2023.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty; Belal Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images
While Iran is wary of entering into direct war with Israel, Tehran has been lending support to Yemen’s Houthis, Irak’s Shia militias as well as the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Hezbollah dominates Lebanon’s sectarian political system, giving the paralyzed government little choice if the militant group chooses to join Hamas’ war against Israel.