Just 48 hours after the United States and Israel launched a massive bombing campaign of Iran, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah entered the fray and backed its patron.
Tehrans closest nonstate ally, the US-designated terrorist group has fired hundreds of rockets, missiles, and drones at neighboring Israel since March 2, opening a new front in the war and stretching Israels military resources.
Israel has launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon and waged a devastating campaign of air strikes in response to Hezbollahs attacks, killing over 2,000 people and displacing more than 1.2 million, according to local health authorities.
Now, as Tehran and Washington engage in negotiations over a possible peace deal, Iran has made an end to attacks against its proxies in the region -- specifically Israels strikes on Hezbollah -- one of its core demands.
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'Most Valuable Regional Asset'
Iran sees Hezbollah as its most valuable regional asset -- its front line against Israel -- so leaving Lebanon out would mean accepting continued Israeli degradation of its core deterrent, said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the London-based think tank Chatham House.
Unlike Iraqi or Yemeni groups, Hezbollah sits on Israels border with a large missile arsenal, making it uniquely central to Irans leverage in both war and negotiations, she added.
Hezbollah is the bedrock of the so-called axis of resistance, Irans network of armed proxies and Tehran-backed militant groups. They include Yemen's Houthi rebels and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, allies that have also joined the war.
Built over decades, the axis of resistance has been a key element of Tehran's forward defense strategy -- projecting power beyond its borders while reducing the need for direct confrontation with archfoes Israel and the United States.
The alliance has suffered a series of blows in recent years. A major military and political force in Lebanon, Hezbollah has been weakened after a bruising yearlong war with Israel that killed the group's longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah. Even after a fragile cease-fire ended the conflict in late 2024, Israel continued to target the groups leadership and military arsenal.
Hezbollah was largely down and out -- at least that was the widely held view. But the group has surprised many observers by its consistent attacks on Israel, suggesting it still possesses a sizeable arsenal of rockets and missiles.
Despite recent losses, Iran still treats Hezbollah as its primary deterrent and insurance policy against Israeli strikes, capable of threatening Israel directly if Iran is attacked, said Vakil.
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Dispute Over Truce
When Iran and the United States agreed a two-week cease-fire on April 7, the truce almost immediately collapsed after a dispute over whether it included Lebanon. Washington said the deal did not include a halt to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, but Tehran said it did.
Less than 24 hours after the truce went into force, Israel carried out its deadliest attacks on Lebanon, killing over 300 people and wounding over 1,000, triggering widespread outrage. Israel has since scaled back its attacks in the country.
Writing on X, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said the Israeli strikes signal deception and noncompliance with the cease-fire. Iran will never forsake its Lebanese brothers and sisters, he added.
Iran did not retaliate by hitting Israel, but Tehran has refused to reopen the Strait of Hormuz -- a key artery for global oil and gas supplies and a key component of the cease-fire -- further straining the already fragile truce. The US Navy has since imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and traffic in the strait with the aim of stopping Tehran exporting its oil and gas.
Ahead of peace talks between US and Iranian officials in Islamabad on April 11, Tehran threatened to back out of the negotiations at the last minute over Israels continued attacks against Hezbollah. The Iranian delegation ended up attending the talks, although the sides failed to clinch a deal to end the war.
Before the Islamabad talks, Iran had issued a 10-point peace plan that included, among other demands, an end to American and Israeli attacks against its armed allies in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
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Power Projection
Experts said protecting Hezbollah and including it in any peace deal will be a priority for Iran.
Hezbollah has been Irans oldest and most important ally and proxy in the region, and it entered the latest round of the war in support of Iran, so Iran wants to reciprocate as much as it can, said Farzin Nadimi, an Iran defense specialist at the Washington Institute.
They also want to keep their most important proxy relevant and prevent its further weakening, added Nadimi.
Iran helped establish Hezbollah in 1982 in response to Israels invasion that year of Lebanon, which was embroiled in a devastating civil war. Since it was formed, the Shia political and military organization has received significant financial and political assistance from Iran, a Shia-majority country.
Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said defending Hezbollah has taken on greater importance since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of Tehran, was ousted from power in December 2024. Under Assad, Syria was the only other state actor in the axis of resistance.
Over the past year and half, Iran's influence and power projection in the Levant has taken significant hits, said Rafati.
That also includes the weakening of Hezbollah, which has faced growing domestic and international pressure to disarm. The Lebanese army has also been deployed in the countrys south, Hezbollahs stronghold, in another blow to the group.
Ideology and geography make Hezbollah an ally Tehran does not want to abandon, said Rafati.
In trying to include it into a wider cease-fire [and peace deal], the Iranians seem intent on ensuring that the group can live to fight another day, be it as a political actor or more literally as a military force across Israel's northern frontier, he said.
It is unclear if Israel will agree to end its strikes on Hezbollah and withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon as part of any US-Iranian peace deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the countrys attacks on Hezbollah and destroy the group.
The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States will meet in Washington on April 14 in talks mediated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Lebanon has called for a cease-fire, but Israel has rejected a truce with Hezbollah and insists on the disarmament of the group. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has urged Lebanon to cancel the talks in Washington.
Why Hezbollah Is 'Central' To Iran's Leverage In War And Peace Talks
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