Why Iran Faced Israel and the US Alone as Its Friends Stood By

Iran spent decades expanding its reach in the Middle East by building a network of partners that came to be known as the “axis of resistance.” Yet it found itself standing alone to face the recent attacks by Israel, which the US joined by bombing three of the Islamic Republic’s key nuclear facilities. A tentative ceasefire with Israel went into effect on June 24.

The web of partnerships that Iran has funded and armed for years is struggling, and the country’s state ally, the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, fell in December. Nearly two years of war with Israel has weakened the Palestinian group Hamas and the Lebanese organization Hezbollah. And while the Houthi militants in Yemen remain defiant, their capabilities have also been impaired by American strikes.