Who are Iran’s allies in the Middle East?

(NewsNation) — Iran has cultivated several allies in the Middle East, but in the aftermath of a U.S. attack on its nuclear sites, it's unclear if any will step in to back the nation.

Iran had spent years propping up factions and governments known as the “Axis of Resistance," which included Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and some armed groups in Iraq.

These groups have remained silent on entering the conflict.

Saturday’s strikes on Iran included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. 

The operation pushes the Middle East to the brink of a major new conflagration in a region already aflame for more than 20 months with wars in Gaza and Lebanon and a toppled dictator in Syria. The attack by American forces came in tandem with Israeli attacks on Iran, which began last week. 

Yemen 

The rebel Houthis in Yemen are currently the only group that has openly supported Iran. The group has exchanged missile strikes with Israel since the start of the war in Gaza as a show of support to the Palestinian people.

The group began targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea following the war in Gaza but reached a deal with the U.S. in May to cease strikes against American vessels. 

Prior to the U.S. strike on Iran, the group said it would again target U.S. ships “in the event the Americans become involved in the attack and aggression against Iran."

In a statement Sunday, the Houthi political bureau called on Muslim nations to join "the Jihad and resistance option as one front against the Zionist-American arrogance."

“This aggression comes against the backdrop of Iran’s supportive stances on the Palestinian cause and its support for jihad and resistance movements against the Zionist entity,” the group said, according to Al Jazeera. 

Lebanon 

A longtime ally, the military group Hezbollah in Lebanon has faced its own recent battle with Israel.

The Israeli state launched several strikes last year, destroying weapons supplies, strongholds and killing top Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 

Hezbollah was formed with Iranian support in the early 1980s as a guerrilla force fighting against Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon at the time.

The Lebanese armed group condemned Saturday’s attack by the U.S but did not suggest it would join in Tehran’s retaliation.

“It constitutes a reckless, dangerous, and uncalculated escalation that threatens to expand the circle of war and push the region and the world toward the unknown if it is not stopped and deterrent measures are not taken,” Hezbollah said in a statement in Arabic, reported Al Jazeera. 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the U.S. bombing could lead to a regional conflict that no country could bear and called for negotiations. 

"Lebanon, its leadership, parties, and people, are aware today, more than ever before, that it has paid a heavy price for the wars that erupted on its land and in the region," Aoun said in a statement on X. "It is unwilling to pay more."

Syria 

Syria had been a close supporter of Iran when it was under the leadership of dictator Bashar al-Assad but is no longer a close ally since his regime was toppled by opposition forces last year. 

Iraq 

Some militia groups in Iraq have supported Iran, including Kata'ib Hezbollah, the Badr Organization and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq. 

These groups also stepped in after Israel's war in Gaza, occasionally striking bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria.

Kataib Hezbollah had said prior to the U.S. attack that it would directly target U.S. interests and bases spread throughout the region if Washington got involved. The group has also remained silent since Sunday’s strikes.

It is unclear if they will back the nation as it faces attacks from the U.S. and Israel. 

Iraq expressed concern over security threats in the region in the aftermath of the U.S. attack. 

“This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability,” government spokesperson Basim Alawadi said.

Middle East nations that are not close allies

While neighbors, not all nations have sided with Iran. 

Saudi Arabia and Iran have had decadeslong strained relations and conflict over their vision for the region. The feud between them is largely driven by sectarian differences. 

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is following with great concern the developments in the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran, represented by the targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States of America,” the Saudi foreign ministry posted on X.

The kingdom “expresses the need to exert all efforts to exercise restraint, de-escalate, and avoid escalation,” calling on the international community to boost efforts in such “highly sensitive circumstances” to reach a political solution to end the crisis.

Oman has kept a cordial relationship with Iran to remain neutral. The country acts as a facilitator of exchanges rather than as a mediator, according to The Lowy Institute, a think tank. 

Oman has previously acted as an intermediary between the United States and Iran over reviving the nuclear deal President Donald Trump abandoned in his first term, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the group said. 

The Gulf state said it “expresses deep concern, denunciation and condemnation of the escalation resulting from the direct air strikes launched by the United States on sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the official Oman News Agency said.

Qatar has also maintained a cordial relationship with Iran despite being a close U.S. ally. 

Speaking on the U.S. attack, the Qatar foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “warns that the current dangerous escalation in the region may lead to catastrophic consequences at both the regional and international levels” and “calls on all parties to exercise wisdom, restraint, and to avoid further escalation.”

Iran’s global allies 

Iran had been a part of a larger coalition of allies that included China, Russia and North Korea.

Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy head of President Vladimir Putin's Security Council, said several countries were prepared to supply Tehran with nuclear weapons.

He didn't specify which countries but said the U.S. attack caused minimal damage and would not stop Tehran from pursuing nuclear weapons.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it "strongly condemned" the airstrikes and called them "a gross violation of international law, the U.N. Charter, and U.N. Security Council resolutions."

Following the U.S. attack, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the nation and Russia “enjoy a strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions."

Araghchi said he would travel to Moscow later Sunday to meet with President Vladimir Putin after the U.S. aggression.

China also condemned U.S. strikes on Iran, calling them a serious violation of international law that further inflamed tensions in the Middle East.

In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged all parties to implement a ceasefire.

"China is willing to work with the international community to pool efforts together and uphold justice, and contribute to the work for restoring peace and stability in the Middle East," the ministry said.

North Korea has also condemned Israel’s previous attacks on Iran as a "crime against humanity.” 

A spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said the killing of civilians in Israeli attacks in Iran was "an unpardonable crime against humanity" and accused the nation of engaging in "state-sponsored terrorism" that was raising the risk of "a new all-out war" in the region.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.