Key Points and Summary – Despite recent debilitating strikes by Israel and the U.S., Iran is aggressively moving to re-arm its proxies across the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
-Recent high-value weapons seizures, including a 750-ton shipment of advanced missiles intended for the Houthis, reveal Tehran’s commitment to rebuilding its “long arm” of influence.
-This defiant push to replenish the arsenals of its allies suggests that despite significant setbacks, including an attack that reportedly injured its president, Iran remains determined to challenge regional stability and continue its shadow war against its adversaries.
Iran Isn’t Out of the Fighter Just Yet…Nor Its Proxies
Not only did Israel launch strikes on Iran for 12 days last month, but it also has spent much of the past year degrading Tehran’s allies, especially Hezbollah. Meanwhile, the United States joined in the Iran attack and has also been attacking the Houthis in Yemen.
However, according to a new report, Iran has been acting to re-arm allied militias in the region.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “a pattern of high-value weapons seizures shows Tehran is making new efforts to arm its militia allies across the Middle East.”
Yemen’s government has intercepted a shipment of missiles for the Houthis, while Syria’s new government and Lebanon’s army both seized shipments as well. Syria’s previous regime was allied with Iran, but its current one is not.
Rearming the Levant
“Iran is rebuilding its presence in the Levant by sending missiles to Hezbollah and weapons from Iraq to Syria,” Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the newspaper.
The shipment to the Houthis, which was seized by the government-aligned National Resistance Force, consisted of “750 tons of cruise missiles, antiship and antiaircraft missiles, warheads, targeting components and drone engines,” U.S. Central Command told the newspaper.
“The timing and scale of this shipment strongly suggest Iran is moving quickly to replenish Houthi stockpiles depleted by U.S. airstrikes,” Mohammed al-Basha, founder of the U.S.-based Middle East security advisory Basha Report, told the newspaper.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei, however, denied the weapons headed to Yemen had come from Iran, calling the claims “baseless.”
What Happened to Iran’s “Long Arm”
Back in mid-June, before the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Emile Hokayem, the director of regional security and a senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote in the Financial Times that “Iran’s long arm is not so muscular anymore.”
“The Iranian commanders who fatefully gathered in a Tehran compound last night or were killed as they slept spent decades building the regional militias, the arsenal of missiles and drones, and the nuclear program that compelled others to take Tehran seriously,” Hokayem wrote.
“They believed they had found the right formula for the defense of Iran’s regime, territory, and critical infrastructure. It was a costly endeavor that alienated many of the country’s neighbors and faraway powers and caused havoc in the Middle East, but it gave its leadership an inflated sense of purpose and power. It took two waves of attacks by Israel to shake the whole edifice. Last October, it took out most of Iran’s advanced air defences, after which Israel became the master of the air and of the clock.”
He also looked at the decaying infrastructure of Iran’s proxies in the region.
“Iran’s long arm is less muscular and much shorter than before. Bashar al-Assad is gone, Hezbollah is no longer a strategic force and while the Houthis can disrupt Red Sea traffic, they cannot project power in a sustained way. Russia and China will not come to the rescue.”
President “Injured”
Meanwhile, CBS News reported Thursday that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was injured during one of Israel’s strikes on the country in June. This confirms reports from Iranian state-run media that the president was struck while attending a Supreme National Security Council meeting.
Pezeshkian had claimed, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, that Israel had struck the building he was in as part of what he characterized as an assassination attempt.
“They did try, yes. And they acted accordingly, but they failed,” he said in the interview with the former Fox News host.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
More Military
The U.S. Navy’s Submarine Crisis Is Real
Jim
July 20, 2025 at 1:21 pm
Let’s be clear, it’s Israel’s actions which are causing instability in the Middle East.
The ongoing atrocity & ethnic cleansing in Gaza incites the Houthis & Hezbollah. You’ll never identify the root cause if you ignore the circumstances which cause it.
Also, a sucker punch, sham negotiation culminating in a sneak attack designed to decapitate the leadership and cause chaos and drag the United States into a regime change war has consequences.
And, the response by Iran constituting a hard wack in the face with a 2×4. In a way which surprised Israeli leaders in both the military & civil government by the effectiveness of it which led to Netanyahu having the good sense to agree to a cease fire to end the 12 Day War.
Unless actual good faith negotiations commence things aren’t going to turn around in the Middle East.
And, yes, if Netanyahu’s coalition government keeps up the Gaza action (and there’s little prospect it will stop) then other things will happen.
It’s called cause & effect… basic logic.
But when everybody is stuck in war fever… basic logic gets thrown out the window.
We are watching an ugly transit of events like watching the Sun move across the sky.
You want to arrest this course of events? Stop the slaughter which incites all the rest. That simple.
Or is it?
Jim
July 20, 2025 at 2:04 pm
President Donald Trump is the key.
Only the United States has the influence and power to stop the parties to the conflict from going down the path to war in the Middle East.
I shake my head at that. Trump has exhibited little capability or inclination to exercise that kind of leadership.
I’ll tell you a secret: Trump was never that good of a negotiator. I how do I know? If you’re good at negotiating you don’t have to engage in mafia style tactics… as he displayed by going along with Netanyahu’s sucker punch gambit.
But there is history, too. Trump always had daddy’s money, big money, usually the most in the room. Trump relied on his “Brand” and ability as a promoter, so he could pay top-dollar for properties because he could count on the property producing more than other bidders for said property. (Yes, Trump is an excellent promoter… boy, does he know how to puff.)
The Art of the Deal, a con job to burnish the Trump “Brand” and his image.
But all this doesn’t lead to being a good negotiator… and we see the results, a circle of contradicting statements & actions… with little results.
But here we are and Trump’s the only game in town.
Quit flying by the seat of the pants, sit down with your advisors and discuss & deliberate what you want to do. Then craft a strategy to get there.
What is Trump’s vision for the Middle East?
I thought Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia was his vision… a good one, encouraging, acknowledging past mistakes, and articulating a better path forward in the future.
Subsequent events tell me I was wrong.
Now, I’m just guessing… and so are the rest of the American People.
What is Trump’s real vision… not the con job puffery Trump has made a career out of… starting with daddy’s money… I’m left shaking my head…