Iran’s ‘Ring of Fire’ Is In Trouble. What Comes Next?

DEEP DIVE — It may be the most consequential change to the Middle East since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel, and the wars that followed: Iran’s so-called “Ring of Fire” against Israel has been badly broken. 

That “Ring” is the term for Iran’s strategy to encircle Israel with heavily-armed organizations. Time and again, Iran has used the militant organizations – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, along with several smaller groups that operate in Iraq and in Syria – as proxies to terrorize Israel. Iran has provided funding, weaponry and training to these groups, which in turn have essentially done the dirty work for Tehran.