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In his 2023 article “How Iran and Its Allies Hope to Save Hamas,” Hamidreza Azizi asserted that Iran’s Axis of Resistance had strengthened into a synchronized yet autonomous coalition. Two years later, we asked him to revisit his analysis in light of recent confrontations between Israel, the United States, Iran, and members of the Axis of Resistance.Image: khamenei.irIn your 2023 article, “How Iran and Its Allies Hope to Save Hamas,” you said there was reason to believe (at that time) that Iran’s Axis of Resistance had “transformed into a cohesive alliance network.” Two years later, what is your assessment of the strength of Iranian-backed groups in the region, particularly as it pertains to the threat against Israel and the United States?Two years on, the Axis of Resistance no longer operates as a tightly coordinated military network, but it has not dissolved. Rather, it has shifted toward a more localized form of resistance, where affiliated actors act with greater autonomy while remaining ideologically bound and politically aligned. What unites them is a deepening perception of Israel as an existential threat. This shared sense of threat, coupled with a resilient narrative of resistance, continues to give the Axis political cohesion, even as its military synchrony has weakened.Israel’s sustained multi-front campaign has dramatically altered the threat landscape. Hamas and especially Hizballah, which were once the Axis’ most immediate threats due to geographic proximity to Israel, have been severely degraded. Yet the Axis’ capacity for disruption has not vanished — it has simply transformed. The Houthis have emerged as a major actor, extending their operations to directly threaten Israel both through missile attacks and Red Sea shipping disruptions. With Iran’s continued support, they have evolved from a pressure lever on the United States into a regional actor capable of targeting Israel itself. In that