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)