The Iranian-backed Houthis have suffered some setbacks in the battle for Marib in Yemen recently, and there has been increased attention on their drone attacks, as well as on the Iranian attack on a ship off Oman.
For the new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, these will be part of his first moves in the region. He will be shoring up support for Hamas, and may also travel to Baghdad.
We can determine some of Raisi’s objectives by looking at Iranian media connected to the IRGC.
This media claims that Marib will soon be taken by the Houthis in what would be a setback for Saudi Arabia, and meanwhile The Houthi leadership has accused Saudi Arabia and the UAE of being “tools of the United States.”
Hamas showed their support and sent a delegation to Iran for Raisi’s inauguration, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was quoted in Iran’s Tasnim as saying “the Palestinian resistance is on the side of Iran.”
This is an attempt by Iran to increasingly take over the Palestinians and create influence and control and use them to attack Israel. Iran already did this in May during Operation Guardian of the Walls, and will likely prod the Palestinians towards more attacks.
Iran has a tendency to use proxies, pushing others to defend and die for it in its regional wars. That is why Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis and Yemenites all are pushed by Iran to fight, while Iran’s regime strangles its own people at home and profits off all the instability, terror and suffering.
There is no country Iran is involved in that has become wealthier and more stable as a result. Most places where Iran empowers militias, such as Iraq, barely have electricity, and others, like Lebanon, are bankrupt.
Iranian media says Iraq’s foreign minister is coming to Iran soon, and Raise may be hosted in return during his first foreign trip, Fars News says.
According to the report “the Iraqi Foreign Minister also invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend this important security meeting with officials from Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.”
The meeting may take place in Iraq, and if the Iranian president attends, it would be an important regional meeting. According to this narrative, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi wants to solidfy Iraq’s role in the region.
Iraq has also had discussions with Egypt and Jordan about regional security and normalizing more regional ties with Syria. If Iraq were to host the Saudis, Turkey and Iran, as well as representatives of Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and the EU, this would be a major milestone.
It remains to be seen what will happen, but the inclusion of Syria would be a major signal to the region. Iran wants the US to leave Iraq and this would also bolster attempts by Turkey, Iran and others to remove the US from Syria.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah’s recent speech is also heavily quoted by Tasnim News. This is because he is trying to redraw the deterrence equation with Israel, and pretends Hezbollah is equal to Israel.
Hezbollah has taken over much of Lebanon and now conducts its foreign policy, and Nasrallah’s point now is that the recent rocket fire was designed to show Israel that Hezbollah can prevent Israel from escalating.
Source » jpost