“The Axis of Resistance” and the War in Gaza. Quo Vadis?

The article explores Iran's "Axis of Resistance," a regional coalition which includes Syria, and the militant radical groups Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi pro-Iranian militias and Yemen’s Houthis, aimed at the annihilation of Israel and countering U.S./Western influence in the Middle East. Formed post-1979 Iranian Revolution, it supported Palestinian Islamist causes and regional defiance of American presence. The October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist massacre attack on Israel, followed by Hezbollah, Houthi and, for first time, direct Iranian missile attacks on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent Gaza offensive and retaliation against Iran and its proxies, exposed the Axis’s vulnerabilities. The 2024 collapse of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime, Hezbollah’s weakening in Lebanon, Hamas’ military demise, U.S and Western challenge of Houthi’s terrorist attacks against the international maritime lanes in the Red Sea, disrupted Iran’s strategy. On the backdrop of their diminished position, Iran and its proxies face now the pressure of President Trump’s strategy to change the regional dynamics, limit the impact of the Axis’s influence and achieve, by negotiation or military pressure, the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear project