War renews confidence in regional alliances
Iranian analyst Mehrdad Ahmadi Sheikhani said the recent US-Israeli war on Iran has renewed support for one of the country's key regional policies of expanding its strategic depth.
Since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, Tehran has built ties with armed and political groups across the Middle East that share its ideological views. Iranian political and military leaders have long argued that these alliances help the country deter attacks by Israel.
That strategy came under growing criticism after Israel attacked Iran in June 2025, triggering a 12-day war. Critics argued that Iran's regional allies had failed to prevent the conflict and questioned the strategy's value.
In response, Sheikhani argued in the Shargh daily that support for the policy has grown within the establishment, pointing to the Lebanese group Hezbollah's backing at the start of the war in February, Iran's response to Israel's bombing of Beirut earlier this month, and the stance taken by Yemen's Houthis.
