AXIS OF RESISTANCE KEEPS PRESSURE ON U.S.

Iran and its allies in the so-called Axis of Resistance continue to pressure the United States over its unwavering support for Israel’s destructive war on the Gaza Strip, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 29,000 Palestinians. Yemen remains one of the hottest spots of the regional confrontation with the Houthis (Ansar Allah) targeting Israel-affiliated ships and others owned by the U.S. and the United Kingdom. On February 18, the Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar was attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea. The attack caused catastrophic damage to the vessel. Later on February 19, a Greece-flagged bulk carrier requested for military assistance following a missile attack in the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, identifying the vessel as the Sea Champion. They added that another vessel called Navis Fortuna was also directly struck. On the same day, the Houthis shot down an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone of the U.S. Air Force over the Red Sea. And on February 20, France announced that it shot down two Houthi drones over the Red Sea, while the U.S. Central Command announced the downing of ten other drones and a cruise missile targeting the USS Laboon. The Houthis claimed that they attacked the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat and a number of American warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea with drones. The attacks highlighted the failure of the American-British military campaign against Yemen. Dozens of strikes hit Houthi-controlled areas in recent weeks. Yet, the group’s capabilities appear to be intact. In Iraq and Syria, the Axis of Resistance actually scaled down attacks on U.S. forces in an attempt to prevent Washington from expanding its operations in the region. According to a report released by Reuters on February 17, Brigade General Esmail Qaani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s elite Quds Force, visited Baghdad in January and convinced Iranian-backed armed factions there to halt attacks on U.S. forces. Despite the Axis of Resistance’s attempt to contain the confrontation, Israel escalated strikes against Hezbollah, killing 11 civilians, including women and children, in southern Lebanon on February 14 after one of its soldiers was killed and eight others were wounded in a rocket attack on a base near the northern Israeli town of Safad. Israel was also behind two attacks which targeted an Iranian gas pipeline near the city of Borujen in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari on February 14 and a chemical factory near the capital, Tehran, on February 15,. Now, with support from the U.S., Israel is preparing an offensive on the southern Gaza area of Rafah, which is located on the border with Egypt. More than one million Palestinains are taking shelter there. The attack on Rafah could force the Axis of Resistance to re-escalate against the U.S. and Israel. This would bring the region closer to a full-blown war.