CSS Current Affairs | Iranian Proxies Challenges the KSA’s Influence
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Outline
1-Introduction
2-An overview of prominent Iranian proxies
3-Challenges to Saudi Arabi’s influence in the Middle East by Iranian proxies
- ✓ Posing ideological threats and sectarian conflicts
- ✓ Threatening Saudi Arabia’s hegemony in the region
- ✓ Creating perpetual regional insecurity to divert resources
4-Role of Iranian proxies in Iran’s confrontation with Israel
- ✓ Funding the Palestinian resistance continuously
- ✓ Creating conflicts with cross-border militant groups
- ✓ Looming threat of breaking an all-out war
5-Critical analysis
6-Conclusion
Answer to the Question
Introduction
Iran’s widespread network of proxies has emerged as a powerful disrupting force in the Middle East. Prominently including the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestinian Gaza, Iranian proxies are locally created groups engaged in ideological struggles against states and funded heavily and openly by Iran. As such, the proxies aim to systematically weaken the influence of Saudia Arabia by weakening its hegemony, diverting resources, and creating instability in the region. Moreover, in Iran’s confrontation with Israel, the proxies play a strategic role in increasing internal insecurity, escalating cross-border clashes, and threatening an all-out war.
An overview of prominent Iranian proxies
The Iranian Revolution of 1979, which established the Islamic Republic of Iran, completely altered the course of regional politics and geopolitics. Since then, the country has spearheaded an agenda of spreading its ideological vision to the rest of the world, especially the Muslim countries, so they, too, can break the chains of tyrant and West-influenced leaders. For this, Tehran sponsors several proxies—commonly called “the axis of resistance” throughout the region. These militant and nonstate groups aim to create imbalance and insecurity against the hegemonic forces, like Israel and Saudi Arabia, in the Middle East. The prominent Iranian proxies are the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in the Occupied Palestinian Gaza.
Challenges to Saudi Arabi’s influence in the Middle East by Iranian proxies
Saudia Arabia and Iran have engaged in a decades-long rivalry of ideology, proxies, and influence to struggle to balance the region’s power. In this rivalry, the Iranian proxies challenge Saudi Arabia’s hegemony in the following unique ways.
- 1-Posing ideological threats and sectarian conflicts
Iran poses ideological and sectarian threats to Saudi Arabia’s influence through its regime’s agenda of exporting revolutionary ideology by using its strategic network of proxies throughout the Middle East. As such, Saudi Arabia considers the possibility of another Arab Spring, where a series of pro-democratic uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa toppled a couple of governments in 2010-11, a serious threat to its national security. Moreover, Saudia is predominantly Sunni and Iran is predominantly Shia, leading to the creation of a Sunni-Shia divide and undermining Saudi Arabia’s influence in the region.
- 2-Threatening Saudia Arabia’s hegemony
Moving on, Iranian proxies threaten Saudi Arabia’s hegemony in the region as an extension of ideological and sectarian conflicts. As the centre of the Muslim World because of Makkah and Medina, Saudi Arabia has acted as a de-facto leader of the Muslim country after its modern state emergence with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and many Muslim countries do look to Saudi Arabia for guidance or at least hope to establish good foreign relations for religious purposes. However, Iran has become the first country to challenge this hegemony. For instance, while Saudi Arabia led a coalition to sanction the Houthis in 2014, Iran openly funded and owned the Shiite group against the Sunni official government. And still, the Houthis undermine Saudi Arabia’s hegemony in the region from controlling some ships in the Red Sea to cross-border militancy and more.
- 3-Creating perpetual regional insecurity to divert resources
All in all, the Iranian proxies have created a perpetual regional insecurity in the Middle East. As the centre of the region, Saudi Arabia has to divert significant resources to upkeep its military capabilities, foreign relations, and strategic alliances. For instance, the civil war in Syria is still raging, and the Yemeni civil war has not reached a definite conclusion as well, mostly because of the presence of non-state militant groups undermining the government—both of which are sponsored and funded by different powers for strategic interests. It also stops Saudi Arabia from emerging as a leading regional power and investing to speed up projects like Vision 2030.
Role of Iranian proxies in Iran’s confrontation with Israel
Iran and Israel have been at odds for decades, and both have significantly invested to counter the forces of the other. In the Iran-Israel conflict, Iranian proxies play the following role.
- 1-Funding the Palestinian resistance continuously
The root of the Iran-Israel conflict is the Palestinian conflict, specifically the ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians to create a pro-West or pro-American ethno-nationalist state in a strategic region occupied by a large population of Muslims. As such, Iran has continuously funded the Palestinian Resistance in the West Bank and Gaza since 1979. Its significant impact can be seen through the October 2023 retaliation of Hamas, the militant resistant group in Gaza, against the occupation of Israel. The conflict is still ongoing with more than forty thousand people dead. Hence, Iranian proxies create perpetual resistance and aggravate internal insecurity against Israel.
- 2-Creating conflicts with cross-border militant groups
Moreover, the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon has strategically initiated and retaliated countless cross-border attacks with Israel since the 1980s. The September 2024 Israel-Hezbollah confrontation killing 700 people in two days is but another episode of a series of cross-border conflicts in the last four decades. The border between Israel and Lebanon, especially the disputed Golan Heights, would potentially remain a bone of contention for the foreseeable future in the regional dynamics.
- 3-Looming threat of breaking an all-out war
The Iranian proxies undermining the security of Israel prolong and aggravate the Iran-Israel conflict despite the two-thousand-kilometre distance between the two countries. Iran also views attacks against the proxies as an attack on its state and national interests. As such the foreign ministry of Iran has repeatedly threatened an all-out war with Israel. The recent warning statement against the Israel-Hezbollah confrontation and the cross-continental ballistic missiles fired by Iran this year also aggravate relations and increase the possibility of a multi-national war.
Critical analysis
In a robust analysis, the Iranian proxies, the Iranian regime’s support, and the current destabilised regional dynamic paint a grim picture of security and stability. The Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah uniquely affect both Saudi Arabia and Israel in their broader relations with Iran. The Iran and Saudi Arabia struggle for influence in the region and the Muslim World would continue through the network of proxies. And the Iran-Israel confrontation would be tipped in Iran’s favour through Hamas and Hezbollah while the situation would exist as a time bomb for the start of a wider regional war. As such, there is a vital and urgent need for world leaders to significantly mitigate conditions in favour of peace and bring the warring factions towards a lasting and stable ceasefire, especially by addressing the root causes and navigating the complexity of interrelations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the network of Iranian proxies in the Middle East, specifically the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza, protect and prolong Iran’s national interests and foreign policy in favour of the country. They play a significant role in addressing and undermining the influence of Saudi Arabia in the region and the Muslim world through ideological threats, sectarian conflicts, cross-border insecurity, and regional insecurity. Furthermore, they aggravate Iran’s confrontation with Israel and bilateral relations through Palestinian resistance, cross-border militant groups and cross-continent war possibility. As such, the Middle Eastern region is destabilised and complex, representing urgent needs for third parties to step in and mitigate the grievances.
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