Yesterday, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman reported that Iran has been sending cash to Hizballah via commercial flights to Lebanon. This report makes three things clear: Iran’s usual overland roots through Syria have been at least partially cut off by the fall of the Assad regime; Iran is actively trying to rebuild Hizballah; and Israel must seek to prevent this from happening. Indeed, writes Yossi Mansharof, Iran may also be smuggling weapons by air, “necessitating Israeli countermeasures with American backing.”

The Islamic Republic, moreover, wants to help Hamas restore its military capabilities, and the cease-fire, along with the Israeli withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor, makes doing so easier. Mansharof explains:

The Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s statements to a Hamas delegation in Tehran on Saturday regarding the need to rebuild Gaza leave no doubt about Iran’s ambition to restore Hamas’s infrastructure, which was severely damaged during the war. Experience shows that this reconstruction will focus on Hamas rather than Gaza’s civilian population.

Israel and the U.S. must exert maximum effort to prevent [Iran] from rebuilding Hamas, as its restoration would erase Israel’s military achievements in the war and enable the terrorist organization to carry out another massacre. . . . Egypt, for instance, has proven to be a weak link in this regard, making it essential for the Trump administration to pressure Cairo into taking significant action to cut Hamas off from its sources of support in Iran.

Egypt has been expressing in no uncertain terms its unwillingness to allow Gazan refugees into its territory. Perhaps to persuade Donald Trump to stop pressuring it to do so, Cairo might become more zealous about taking action against Hamas.

For more than a year, the Iran-backed Houthis have been launching drones and missiles at ships traversing the Red Sea, as well as at Israeli territory, in support of Hamas. This development has drastically curtailed shipping through the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, driving up trade prices. This week, the Trump administration began an extensive bombing campaign against the Houthis in an effort to reopen that crucial waterway. Burcu Ozcelik highlights another benefit of this action:

The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. By targeting the Houthis, the United States is not only safeguarding vital shipping lanes but also exerting pressure on the Iran-China energy nexus, a key component of Beijing’s strategic posture in the region.

China was the primary destination for up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports in 2024, underscoring the deepening economic ties between Beijing and Tehran despite U.S. sanctions. By helping fill Iranian coffers, China aids Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in financing proxies like the Houthis. Since October of last year, notable U.S. Treasury announcements have revealed covert links between China and the Houthis.

Striking the Houthis could trigger broader repercussions—not least by disrupting the flow of Iranian oil to China. While difficult to confirm, it is conceivable and has been reported, that the Houthis may have received financial or other forms of compensation from China (such as Chinese-made military components) in exchange for allowing freedom of passage for China-affiliated vessels in the Red Sea.