United States-Iran tensions rise following Israel-Gaza war

Posted Jan 24, 2024

By Benjamin Larkin

News Editor

Tensions between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran are continuing to grow in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war with the United States moving aircraft carriers into the Red Sea as well as the Iranian navy’s seizure of a United States Aligned oil tanker being examples of their increasingly hostile stances. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran, a radical Shia Muslim state supports Hamas, the current ruling party of the Gaza strip and Hezbollah, a radical Shia terrorist and political group in Lebanon, in their hostilities with Israel. Iran is also accusing Israel of not making attempts to limit civilian casualties in Gaza and purposefully targeting the Muslim and Palestinian populations within their nation. Iran supports many radical and revolutionary Islamist groups throughout the middle east and Africa with equipment, military advisors, and funding including Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups involved in the Israel-Gaza war, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. 

Iran backed groups in Syria and Lebanon have been targeted by Israeli air strikes with multiple Iranian military advisors killed in the attacks. The result of these air strikes is an increasingly hostile attitude towards Israel and increased support for groups currently hostile to or engaged in war with Israel as well as lower public support or even outright hostility towards groups in support of Israel such as the United States of America, which Iran was already experiencing tense relations with following the United States military's assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020 with a drone strike at Baghdad International airport.

The United States has deployed additional troops to the Middle East and equipment to Israel since the start of the Israel-Gaza war which has led to many Iranian backed militant groups such as the Houthis, located in Yemen, staging missile attacks on United States military bases and ships as a form of retaliation for their support as Israel, as well as attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea as a protest against international support and trade towards Israel.

Global shipping has been impacted by the situation in the Red Sea with cargo and passenger vessels having to avoid the normal routes allowed by the Suez Canal and instead take the roughly 4000 mile journey around the coastline of Africa in order to avoid being caught in the Houthis attacks. This could lead to increased shipping prices and time involved in shipping which could have a major effect on the world economy unless the situation is resolved within a timely manner.

The United States has retaliated with its own missile strikes on Iranian backed militias including strikes against groups located within the nation of Iran and has moved additional ships into the Red Sea. American and British military forces have begun joint operations in Yemen with the goal of suppressing the Houthi’s attacks on international shipping though bombing raids and missile strikes on Houthi missile launch sites and facilities. However the situation in the Red Sea has not yet been resolved and missile attacks on United States ships and shipping vessels are still a daily occurrence.

Iran has so far denied any intent to start a military conflict with the United States or Israel but has continued to send equipment and funding to groups involved in combat and drone and missile attacks against the United States and Israel and has made attempts to display their hostility though other actions, such as seizing the United States aligned oil tanker, the St Nikolas, which was carrying 145,000 tons of crude oil. Iran claimed this was revenge for the United States seizing a large shipment of Iranian oil bound for China in 2023. Iran is also closely involved with other United States rivals providing missiles and drones to Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine and selling its oil, which provides most of the nation’s trade revenue, to China. While neither the United States nor Iran has launched a direct attack on the other, their current hostile relations and tit for tat proxy conflicts have them in a cold war that could potentially be escalated if the situation in the Middle East further deteriorates.