Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei meets with Hassan Nasrallah in his office in Tehran in July 2000. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP Archives)
What will Iran do? Following the assassination of Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburb of Beirut on Sept. 27, the question is on everyone's lips. The patron of the party was already facing growing frustration from a segment of his base and hardliners within his regime and the "Axis of resistance," weakened by a wave of targeted assassinations and heavy blows dealt by Israel. Tehran has so far been unable to restore deterrence, despite a direct attack against the Israeli state in April in response to the raid on its consulate annex in Damascus. Many critical voices have emerged to denounce an abandonment of the Lebanese movement by its Iranian patron. Having sought to avoid a regional war for nearly a year since the outbreak of war in Gaza, will Ali Khamenei's...
What will Iran do? Following the assassination of Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburb of Beirut on Sept. 27, the question is on everyone's lips. The patron of the party was already facing growing frustration from a segment of his base and hardliners within his regime and the "Axis of resistance," weakened by a wave of targeted assassinations and heavy blows dealt by Israel. Tehran has so far been unable to restore deterrence, despite a direct attack against the Israeli state in April in response to the raid on its consulate annex in Damascus. Many critical voices have emerged to denounce an abandonment of the Lebanese movement by its Iranian patron. Having sought to avoid a regional war for nearly a year since the outbreak of war in Gaza, will Ali Khamenei's...