Background
In 2004, King Abdullah of Jordan first warned that a "Shia crescent" stretching from Damascus to Tehran, threatened Middle Eastern stability via a Persian sponsored sectarian power play.[i] His words would hold true as the Iranian influence over Shia militants has projected Tehran's power will well beyond its borders. The expansive nature of this greater-Iranian strategy has culminated in a political completion of the land bridge from Tehran to Beirut. In 2016, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman reiterated the continued threat "by a Shia full moon” as the result of Iranian-backed Shia militias in both Yemen and the Levant.[ii] These forces present a difficult problem not only to the infiltrated host nations but also to that of neighboring and international states, seeking to pacify the region. With Persian and American tensions at a breaking point it is imperative to understand not only Iran's national capabilities but also that of its cultivated proxy organizations in the Middle East whose potential for global disruption cannot be discounted.
The most developed of these Iranian surrogates is Hezbollah, which has consistently destabilized peace along the Israeli-Lebanese and Jordanian borders since 1982.[iii] Currently, this organization holds de facto control over strategic zones along the Judean border and in the capital of Beirut. Due to its cult like effect on the Shia population, Hezbollah has become a major part of the Lebanese government since 1992.[iv] In 2006, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, sparking a conflict with Israel. The insurgents would employ a hyper-mobile style of defense in urban areas and other complex terrain which would successfully grind the conflict to a stalemate. This result prompted semi-legitimate claims that they were the first Arab group to defeat Israel since the Jewish state's inception.[v] As conflicts in the Middle East continue to arise, it is imperative to understand the underlying strategy that contributed to Hezbollah's military successes in 2006 in order to minimize the role that they or their fellow Iranian proxies can play in future confrontations.
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