Observers wait to see if Yemen-based Houthis will reopen hostilities as US warships approach Red Sea chokepoint
Iranian-backed militias around the Middle East are continuing attacks against Israel, the US and their allies in retaliation for the US-Israeli offensive against Tehran, but have so far held back from all-out confrontation, analysts and regional officials say.
The relative restraint suggests that Tehran sees such forces as a strategic reserve to be deployed if the 12-day war continues to intensify – though it may also be a sign that Iranian command and control systems are breaking down.
Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamist militant movement which has close links to Iran, joined the conflict early, launching missile and drone attacks at Israel after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
On Tuesday, Shia militias in Iraq attacked a US diplomatic facility in Baghdad, the latest in a string of such strikes, and have previously launched long-range attacks at Israeli and US bases in Jordan.
