THE GUARDIAN: Fears grow that Tehran may start activating sleeper cells across Middle East as part of war with US and Israel
Gulf countries have raised concerns over the prospect of attacks by Iran-backed militias and proxy armed groups in the region, which they fear could destabilise their regimes and escalate the war in the Middle East.
In a joint statement this week, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan condemned Iranian attacks on their soil, both as strikes carried out directly from Iran and “through their proxies and armed factions they support in the region”.
On Wednesday, Kuwait said it had foiled a plot to kill state leaders, and arrested six suspects believed to be associated with Iran’s most powerful proxy group, Hezbollah.
For decades, Iran has used proxy militias as a pillar of its foreign and security policy, as a means to export its revolution, expand its regional influence and destabilise enemy countries. The most prominent examples are Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen but other brutal and influential Iran-backed militias also operate in Iraq and Syria.
On Friday, the Houthis confirmed they had launched a missile strike on Israel, the first time the proxy group have admitted involvement in the war in Middle East. » | Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Dubai | Saturday, March 28, 2026
