Why some key Tehran allies staying out of Israel-Iran conflict?

HEZBOLLAH has long been considered Iran's first line of defence in case of a war with Israel.

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But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran this week, the Lebanese militant group has stayed out of the fray.

A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet even though Israel allegedly used Iraq's airspace, in part, to carry out the attacks.

Domestic political concerns, as well as tough losses suffered in nearly two years of regional conflicts and upheavals, appear to have led these Iran allies to take a back seat in the latest round convulsing the region.

The Axis of Resistance

Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerilla force fighting against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon at the time.

The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centrepiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the “Axis of Resistance”.

The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters.

Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel's offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border.