Iran is reportedly asking its proxies not to provoke the United States to the point it could be dragged into a war with the West.
Tehran has been issuing terrifying threats and defiant messages to the US and its allies following the brutal war between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people in four months.
However, senior Iranian leaders are privately urging the proxy groups they back militarily and economically to exercise restraint, according to Lebanese and Iraqi officials who were briefed on the talks.
An Iraqi official with ties with Iranian-backed forces in their country told the Washington Post: “Iran is doing its utmost to prevent the expansion of the war and the escalation from reaching the point of no return.”
The report added an Iranian military commander had travelled to Baghdad last month to meet with leaders of Kataib Hezbollah, the armed group backed by Tehran which in January claimed responsibility for the drone attack resulting in the death of three US Army reservists.
During their encounter, the Iranian leader is reported to have convinced the group to begrudgingly issue a statement suspending attacks on US targets.
Iran reportedly issued similar requests to the Hezbollah in Lebanon, who have been clashing with the Israeli military since October, and militias in Syria.
The calls from Iran appear to have been heard by most members of its proxy groups. Kataib Hezbollah militants did not attack new US targets even after one of their senior commanders, Abu Baqir al-Saadi, was killed in a drone strike earlier this month.
One group which has seemingly remained unbothered by Iran’s request to exercise restraint against US forces is the Houthi.
The Yemeni rebels continue to make the passage through the Red Sea of commercial vessels a dangerous ordeal.
Since mid-November, the group has launched dozens of attacks on vessels, and does not appear to be slowing down its activity. Last week alone, they have been accused to have launched two missiles into the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden and another against the cargo ship M/V Lycavitos.
Their activity, which they say is in support of Palestinians in Gaza, has prompted many commercial ships to opt for a longer and more expensive – but safer – route to deliver goods from Asia to Europe.
Tehran uses these proxy groups to spread its influence across the Middle East and launch attacks against its enemies – Israel and the US.
While they are trained and funded by Iran, however, these groups operate outside the country, a degree of separation and independence from Tehran which protects the country from being deemed directly responsible for their actions.
