Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was created
in 1979 as a force tasked with protecting and exporting the Islamic Revolution. The IRGC is the central
nervous system of Iran’s transnational terror apparatus and proxy militias in the Middle East known as
the “Axis of Resistance.” The IRGC was designated as both a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 2019
and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2017 by the United States and listed as a
terrorist entity under Canada’s Criminal Code in 2024.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence
(MOI) was created in the early 1980s following the Islamic Revolution and is Iran’s primary
intelligence organization. MOI supports and engages in acts of terror abroad and has targeted dissidents
at home and around the world. MOI was designated as an SDGT by the United States in 2012 but not as an
FTO. Its Directorate for Internal Security was added to the European Union’s terror list in 2019.
Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon in the early 1980s during the Lebanese Civil
War, with Iranian support, and has been a key enabler of Iran-backed terrorism across several continents
and a force multiplier for Iran-backed proxy activity in the Middle East for decades. Hezbollah was
designated as both an FTO in 1997 and an SDGT in 2001 by the United States; listed as a terrorist entity
under Canada’s Criminal Code in 2002; listed as a terrorist organization under the United Kingdom’s
Terrorism Act in 2019; under Australia’s Criminal Code in 2021; and listed as a terrorist entity under
New Zealand’s Terrorist Suppression Act in 2024. The European Union only added Hezbollah’s military wing
to its terror list in 2003.
Ansar Allah (popularly known as the
Houthis) began as a political and religious movement in the 1990s and transformed into an
armed rebellion in the early 2000s that has since been co-opted into the Axis of Resistance during the
Yemeni Civil War and Houthi takeover of Sana’a. The group’s rule over northern Yemen expands Iran’s
influence, allowing it to destabilize the Red Sea region. The Houthis were designated as both an FTO in
2025 and SDGT in 2024 by the United States; listed as a terrorist entity under Canada’s Criminal Code in
2024; listed as a terrorist organization under Australia’s Criminal Code in 2024; and listed as a
terrorist entity under New Zealand’s Terrorist Suppression Act in 2024.
Hamas
emerged from the Palestinian branch in the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s and has been
receiving significant Iranian political, military, and financial support since the early 1990s. Hamas
has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Hamas was designated as both an FTO in 1997 and an SDGT in 2001 by
the United States; was listed as a terrorist entity under Canada’s Criminal Code in 2002; as a terrorist
organization under the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act in 2021; under Australia’s Criminal Code in 2022;
as a terrorist entity under New Zealand’s Terrorist Suppression Act in 2024; and was added to the
European Union’s terror list in 2003.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was
founded in Gaza the early 1980s by former members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Palestinian terror
group was inspired by Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and, since the 1980s, has received Iranian material
and financial support. PIJ was designated as both an FTO in 1997 and an SDGT in 2001 by the United
States; was listed as a terrorist entity under Canada’s Criminal Code in 2002; as a terrorist
organization under the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act in 2001; Australia’s Criminal Code in 2004; as a
terrorist entity under New Zealand’s Terrorist Suppression Act in 2010; and was added to the European
Union’s terror list in 2001.
