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June 19, 2024, 12:14 am, by MenaLive

What is the Iranian led Axis of Resistance?

The Iranian led Axis of Resistance is an Anti-Zionism and Anti-Westernism Shi'i coalition/alliance of mostly militant groups from the countries Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen. The alliance was established to counter Israel's and US's influence into the Middle East and "destroy" Israel. Its most important members are:

- Hezbollah (Lebanon), manpower: 100.000

 

- Houthis (Yemen), manpower: 200.000

 

- Hamas (Palestine), manpower: 40.000 

 

- PIJ (Palestine), manpower: 12.000

 

- Popular Mobilazation Forces, (Iraq), manpower: 100.000

 

- Syria, manpower: 170.000

 

- Iran, manpower: 600.000

*Estimates  

Since its creation Iran has been financially and military aiding all members of the Axis of Resistance, Iran has been supplying Hamas and Hezbollah with missiles, drones and other explosives to be used against Israel, Hezbollah possesses more advanced and longer range missiles including ballistic and cruise missiles, compared to Hamas which mainly receives smaller arms. The most important leaders of the Axis of Resistance are:

- Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah

- Bashar al-Assad, president of Syria

- Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran

- Major General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Its weapons

Iran is considered to have the most sophisticated missile development pogram in the Middle East, with ballisitic missiles that can reach targets in Europe. Iran has also developed mulitple Air-defense systems variants like the Bavar-373 surface-to-air defense system, which is seen as the competitor of the Russian S-300 air defense-system. Western intelligence estimate that Iran can hit targets as far away as 2000km, with missiles containing warheads between 750-1800kg.

Hezbollah

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has increased its missile capabilities with by a big margin since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. The US Department of Defense estimates that the group possesses hundreds of thousands of missiles, inlcuding thousands of Iranian long-range missiles that can hit targets deep inside Israel. Hezbollah also has anti-ship and drones in its military arsenal.

 

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