During more than 100 days since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, US President Joe Biden sought to help Israel win its war on Gaza and prevent the conflict from turning into a regional war with Iran and its proxies. This has become more difficult as the Iranian “axis of resistance,” Israel, and America launch more serious strikes on each other, including assassinations.

A report by the British magazine The Economist stated that Iran’s allies in Iraq and Syria have launched about 140 missile and drone attacks against American forces since the beginning of the Gaza war, and perhaps the most violent of them came on January 20, with the launch of a barrage of “multiple ballistic missiles and missiles” at the Al-Assad base west of the country. Iraq, according to US Central Command.

The magazine added that the United States launched its seventh raid in Yemen “against a different Iranian ally,” the Houthi group, which controls a large part of the country, in an attempt to stop the missiles it launches at ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Biden himself admits that American strikes will not stop the Houthis. However, the Washington Post reports that his administration is formulating plans for a “sustained military campaign” in Yemen despite the concerns of some officials.

The magazine continued, saying that Hezbollah in Lebanon, on the other hand, was regularly exchanging fire with Israeli forces. He expressed his support for Hamas, but did not involve himself in a war against Israel, according to the magazine, as the Biden administration helped dissuade Israel from launching a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah immediately after the October 7 attacks, but Israel threatens to take action in Lebanon if diplomacy fails to convince Hezbollah to cease fire and move away from the border area.

The British magazine believes that America and Iran are playing a balancing role fraught with risks. Iran has helped its allies in the “Axis of Resistance” launch attacks aimed at weakening Israel, distracting America, and discrediting the Arab countries that have signed peace agreements or normalized their relations (or are seeking to do so) with Israel. For its part, America has engaged in “limited retaliatory operations,” and both have avoided a direct clash, but this balance may not hold.

The Economist hinted that Israel is waging a non-secret war against Iran and its allies, in addition to public confrontations with Hamas and Hezbollah.

Strategic patience

However, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Iranian forces to exercise "strategic patience", while Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group says the Iranian regime now feels it needs to "restore deterrence" and has taken matters into its own hands.

The British magazine reported that, during the past week, Iran fired missiles at alleged “terrorist” targets in Syria and Pakistan, and at “an alleged Israeli spy base in Iraqi Kurdistan.” The attack on Pakistan led to a retaliatory missile strike against Iran, and it appears that both countries Now step back from the brink.

Fayez says, "The Iranians are still risk averse; they want to change the perception that they are on the defensive. But at the same time, there is a perception that Israel has set a trap for them, either to justify extending the war or to drag the United States into it."

According to the magazine, Biden was cautious, as he did not want to be drawn into a war in the Middle East at a time when America was already exhausted due to supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, and was trying to prevent another war against China because of Taiwan. Moreover, Biden is seeking re-election this year.

In Iraq and Syria, US forces respond much less frequently to the attacks they are exposed to. Likewise in Yemen, Washington initially limited its response to destroying missiles and drones that threatened Israel or passing ships.

The magazine quoted Aaron David Miller, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as saying, “The American administration knows that it has a problem that has no solution, and it can only try to manage it.”

She noted that Biden’s best hope is that Israel will soon win, or at least end its war in Gaza, thus reducing anger throughout the region, “but Israel has not succeeded in suppressing Hamas and has not recovered its hostages, and has shown little sign of its willingness to stop.” The number of Palestinian deaths has exceeded 25,000.”

The magazine concluded its report by saying that while Biden is struggling to control the scene in the Middle East, Miller says that he may be away from an “unfortunate accident or terrorist attack” that ignites a regional war. He added: "If this continues, and one of these strikes actually ends with the killing of a large number of Americans, the administration will have no choice but to strike the Iranian Revolutionary Guard."

Source: The Economist + Al Jazeera