The ruins in Lebanon resulting from an Israeli missile attack, circa January 2023. The Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon is one front in Iran’s regional war across the Middle East. (Shutterstock/mhlotfi)

Understanding Iran’s 3,000-Mile Battlefront

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Iran is fighting a regional war, while the United States can focus only on one front at a time.

On June 3, an Iranian drone slammed into Terminal 1 at Kuwait International Airport. One person was killed, and 60 were injured in the attack. On June 2, the Kurdish Iranian opposition group Komala said that one of its bases in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq was targeted by Iran. On June 1, the head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, threatened attacks on shipping near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea. 

These are examples of how Iranian-backed threats span a Middle East frontline stretching from Lebanon to Iraq and then to the Straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb—a frontline of more than 3,000 miles.

Iran continues to sow chaos in the Middle East, even as the United States continues to be engaged in talks with Iran about a deal. The current talks hinge on many issues, including the US demands that Iran abandon its nuclear program and that it end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is demanding that the United States also end its blockade of Iran. Iran will want other concessions as well, such as guarantees that the United States and Israel will not........

© The National Interest