Axis of resistance

 Recently, the Hamas leader was assassinated in an airstrike in Tehran and experts believe that Iran could hike up attacks against Israel through its allies - Axis of resistance.

About Axis of resistance:

•   It is a coalition of Iranian-backed groups.
•   The coalition’s name is said to be inspired by former US President George W Bush’s use of the term ‘axis of evil’ — referring to Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
•   Formation

• The roots of the ‘axis of resistance’ go back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which paved the way for radical Shia Muslim clerics to come to power.

•To expand its political and military influence in a region where most powers such as US-ally Saudi Arabia are Sunni-majority nations, Iran’s new regime began to support non-state actors.

• Another reason for this was to deter threats from Israel and the US — Iran has seen Israel’s creation in 1948 as a means for the US (and the West) to influence the region for its strategic interests.

•   Group members

• Hezbollah: Shiite militant organization

• Hamas: Palestinian Sunni militant group in Gaza

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad(PIJ): Sunni Islamist militant group, Palestine

• Houthis: Zaydi Shia militant group, Yemen

UPSC Prelims PYQ : 2018

Ques: The term “two-state solution” is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of :

(a) China

(b) Israel

(c) Iraq

(d) Yemen

Ans: (b)