How much impact could Iran’s regional allies have in a war with Israel?

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Andreas Krieg, geopolitical risk analyst and associate professor at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, said Iraqi armed groups do not have the capability to strike Israel remotely and lack the stockpiles of arsenal that other groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis have.

Designed primarily to disrupt US coalition forces during the Iraq war, “they are primarily in the guerrilla, asymmetric warfare space and cannot make a huge difference to Israel”, Krieg told Al Jazeera.

Krieg added that the missiles or drones that have been fired from Iraq have probably been operated by Iranians in Iraq, rather than Iraqi militias.

“It’s easier to strike Israel from Iraq, rather than striking Israel from Yemen or from Lebanon now. You can use Iraq for a staging ground, but infrastructure needs to be built,” he said.

Period	4 Oct 2024
Held at	Al Jazeera, Qatar