Over the last four decades,­ the Iranian regime has built a network of armed groups on Israel’s borders to create instability and foment terrorism. Hamas, Hezbollah,­ Islamic Jihad,­ and a mosaic of other terrorist organizations receive funding,­ training,­ and weapons from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Quds Force, (IRGC-QF). FDD’s Long War Journal has monitored the buildup of Iran-backed terrorist organizations on key fronts: Gaza,­ the West Bank,­ Lebanon,­ and Syria. Israel has worked to limit the growth of these terrorist organizations­, but they remain a significant threat on multiple fronts.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, one of the key priorities of the Iranian regime has been exporting its revolution abroad. Designated a sponsor of terror by the U.S. government in 1984, Iran is considered the “foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” providing “a range of support, including financial, training, and equipment, to [terrorist] groups around the world – particularly Hezbollah,” according to the U.S. State Department.

Tehran has used its proxy army of more than a dozen militias and terror groups across the Middle East with outposts around the world to help foment instability, carry out attacks, and expand the scope of the Islamic Revolution. Those groups, some with their own political parties to infiltrate or take over local governments, answer to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary body formed in 1979 to protect Iran’s fundamentalist regime. Its special operations unit, the elite Quds Force, has provided arms, training, and financial support to militias and political movements across the Middle East: Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Syria, and Yemen.