 Have you ever wondered why Iran's influence seems to be everywhere in the Middle East conflicts? Let's journey back to the year 1979, the year of the Iranian Revolution. This marked the beginning of Iran's strategic use of militant proxies to exert influence across the Middle East. It was then that Iran began to establish a network of proxies, spreading its terrorist tentacles to Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Key proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Qatab Hezbollah in Iraq have emerged as significant players. Hezbollah, a Shiite militia has been a central figure in this network, receiving substantial backing from Iran. Similarly, Qatab Hezbollah has emerged in Iraq despite being sanctioned for violent attacks against US forces and allies, and it still operates there thanks to this support from Iran. Through these terror proxies, Iran has managed to threaten local governments and neighboring states, reshaping the political landscape throughout the region. We must ask then, why in the world does Iran do this? Iran's use of proxies is not random, but a strategic move. If we look deeper into what Iran is doing, we find a web of intricately connected groups, each a cog in Iran's growing network of influence. By acting through these proxies, Iran extends its reach across the Middle East. This allows Iran to stir the pot of regional conflict without actually getting its hands dirty, a strategy that has had a serious effect on the geopolitics of the region, and poses a formidable challenge to global security. Consider the concept of the Axis of Resistance, a term that refers to an anti-Western alliance in the Middle East. This Axis of Resistance is spearheaded by Iran and it operates primarily to attack Israel and the US. It's a game of chess where the proxies are the pawns, and the players are countries with vested interests. The end game? Influence and power. This strategy allows Iran to pressure adversaries, advance its agenda, and challenge Western interests while claiming not to be involved. Although that's a deception, Iran's role in these conflicts often goes unnoticed. While Iran's current propaganda is now condemning violence, its history and its actions tell a very different story. There's a striking contradiction in Iran's recent threats of retaliation following Israel's strike on an Iranian facility in Syria. Again, you might ask why? So again, let's look back to Iran's history in the Middle East. Iran has been a puppet master manipulating a network of anti-Israel terrorist groups. From Hamas and Islamic jihad in Gaza and the West Bank, to Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the Houthis in Yemen. Iran's fingerprints are all over the terrorism we are seeing in the region. It's not just moral support from Iran, it's training, funding, weapons, encouragement, and strategic advice. It's an integral part and a direct result of Iran's insidious efforts to create regional instability. The violence and the terror attacks against Israel is not the product of spontaneous or organic combustion. It is part of a multi-facted symphony of propaganda, calling for chaos and destruction orchestrated and supported by Iran. Every missile launched, every terror tunnel built, every depraved atrocity, and every Israeli hostage taken carries with it a piece of the Iranian plan. So is Iran really a victim or is Iran rather the instigator of all this violence in the Middle East? When we examine the history and the evidence, we find that Iran's claims of victimhood are the height of irony and that they are completely disingenuous and hypocritical. Iran's threat to global security is not remote, simply stated, Iran has been a rogue nation among the world. What's worse is that Iran is also likely to become a rogue nation that is also a nuclear power. The threat it poses is a clear and present danger for the world. In any event, Iran is by no means a victim, as it now claims. It is rather a nation state dedicated to terror. Iran's strategic use of terror proxies such as Hamas, Islamic jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis is a key part of its foreign policy, if you can call that foreign policy. This policy has allowed Iran to exert its influence and further its destructive agenda without actually having to engage in combat. This policy has fueled conflict, chaos, and terrifying challenges to global security and stands in the way of any path to peace by other more moderate countries. Iran's terror activities not only pose a threat to the people of Israel, these activities also pose a threat to other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. The hypocrisy of Iran's actions cannot be overlooked. While claiming to be a victim and announcing that it will retaliate against Israel, we must remember that Iran has been the backbone of terrorism against Israel for years. As we know, the Middle East is already at war and Iran's threats of retaliation against Israel could ignite a much larger conflict with much larger global implications. As we strive for peace, understanding these dynamics is critical. We need to understand that the Middle East is not just a cynical chessboard for Iran and that its misguided leaders aren't really helping anyone at all.