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iranian Ambassador in Syria mohammad Hassan Akhtari (2nd L) and Ahmed Jibril (2nd R), the leader of the popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), lead a demonstration January 23, 1998, at the Yarmouk Palestinian camp, near Damascus to mark International Quds Day in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Louai behsara/AFP via Getty Images
The term gained prominence in English-language media in the early 2000s,emerging as a response to then-President George W. Bush’s ominous talk of the “axis of evil.” By 2010,the coalition itself adopted the phrase. For Iran, the Axis has been strategically important, serving as a deterrent following the 2003 Iraq invasion. By uniting regional actors against perceived Israeli and US hegemony, Iran aimed to offset potential military threats. However, this once-unified alliance now faces considerable challenges.
Contrary to expectations that Israel’s war in Gaza, backed by the US, would bolster the Axis of Resistance,the conflict and broader regional tensions have partially fragmented it. Syria’s potential departure after the fall of Bashar al-Asad, in December 2024, coupled with increasing domestic pressures on Iran’s foreign policy, raise concerns about its future cohesion. Hizballah is deeply involved in a protracted conflict with Israel and has suffered meaningful setbacks. Hamas is enduring an ongoing Israeli campaign to eliminate it, while other Axis members grapple with their own internal and external difficulties.
Throughout its existence, the Axis of Resistance has been bound by a shared ideology that views the world as a struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors. At the core of this ideology is Palestine, where Palestinians are seen as the epitome of the oppressed, and their liberation is the coalition’s primary moral objective. this narrative intertwines various struggles-political, economic, and spiritual-into a cohesive story of resistance and justice.
Most participants in the Axis frame their actions as part of a larger moral battle rather than traditional statecraft. Under Iran’s guidance, these struggles transcend geographical boundaries, uniting disparate movements under a common vision.Recently, Muhammad Abdulsalam, spokesman for the Yemeni Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement, described the palestinian cause as Yemen’s top priority, arguing that true peace can only be achieved by defeating the “Zionist entity.” This viewpoint divides the world into opposing forces: US imperialism and its Zionist counterpart as the oppressors, and Palestine as the ultimate symbol of resistance.
An evolving Vision of Resistance
The revolutionary discourse that underpins the Axis predates its formal establishment in the 2000s.
Ayatollah Khomeini’s declaration that “islam belongs to the oppressed, not the oppressors,” presented a vision that extended beyond Iran’s borders, offering a moral framework for resistance rooted in Islamic tradition and modern anti-colonial thought.[1] Influenced by Quranic principles and thinkers like Ali Shariati and Morteza Motahhari, this vision portrayed the Iranian Revolution as more than a pursuit of political independence. It was a call to action for the oppressed worldwide. by invoking the concept of Mustazafin, or the oppressed, Khomeini transformed Iran’s revolution into a worldwide narrative of justice and defiance, aligning it with global struggles against colonialism and disenfranchisement.
By invoking the concept of Mustazafinor the oppressed, Khomeini transformed Iran’s revolution into a universal narrative of justice and defiance, aligning it with global struggles against colonialism and disenfranchisement.
This pan-Islamic framing was first tested during the iran-Iraq War (1980-88). While the conflict is frequently enough viewed through sectarian and ethnic lenses-Shi’a versus Sunni, Persian versus Arab-Iran’s rhetoric sought to overcome these divisions. The war was presented not as a sectarian or national conflict but as a moral struggle against tyranny. official discourse depicted Saddam Hussein’s regime as a small group of infidels serving imperialist interests, while Iran positioned itself as the vanguard of Islamic resistance. Although this narrative did not resonate with most Iraqis, it demonstrated the potential of Iran’s broader resistance narrative. This ability to frame conflicts as part of a global struggle against oppression would later underpin Iran’s leadership within the Axis of Resistance and demonstrate the adaptability of this narrative to extend beyond its borders.
The binary logic and vision of dividing the world into oppressed (Mustazafin) and oppressors (Mostakber) resonated across the region. In 1985, Hizballah explicitly adopted this narrative, embedding it within its local resistance to Israeli occupation in Lebanon. Through its Open letter to the Oppressed in Lebanon and the WorldHizballah reimagined its struggle as part of a global fight
