Hezbollah’s continued losses in its war with Israel have created a disastrous situation for Tehran, according to Michael Eisenstadt, director of The Washington Institute’s Military and Security Studies Program.
Iran’s “preferred way of war is to operate through proxies, and Hezbollah was always the diamond in their crown,” he told CNN’s Michael Holmes.
“It played a major role both in their struggle against Israel and their efforts to create what they call ‘the axis of resistance’ in the region,” he said, referring to the alliance of Islamist militias across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen who give Iran strategic depth against its enemies.
“This is a setback that will take many years, if not decades to recover from,” Eisenstadt said.
How – or if – Tehran will respond remains unclear.
While this will be a difficult situation for Iran to step back from, it has in the past been known to abandon its allies to their fate, Eisenstadt said.
Iran has also been put in a vulnerable place with one of its main proxies significantly weakened, he said.
“I think they’ll probably be very careful going forward.”