By Al-Fassel | 2026-09-04

Mojtaba Khamenei used Islamic Unity Week to call Muslim nations, especially Gulf states, toward solidarity against their "real enemy" abroad.

His message said divisions serve Islam's enemies and urged mutual defense, cooperation and stronger unity across West Asia today.

Yet the Iranian regime's appeal arrives as its missiles and drones again crossed Jordanian airspace against US forces stationed there.

Jordan said it intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace, underscoring how quickly the regime's confrontation can endanger another Muslim state.

The promise of resistance

The immediate contradiction is difficult to miss: the Iranian regime invokes brotherhood while its attack places Jordan, a fellow Muslim country, directly at risk.

For Gulf governments, the issue extends beyond rhetoric because regime attacks and maritime threats can disrupt energy markets, trade routes and investment.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of global petroleum consumption normally passes, remains another arena for confrontation.

The Iranian regime's supporters call this resistance, but resistance becomes harder to defend when neighboring societies inherit damaged infrastructure, armed factions and fear.

In Lebanon, Hizbullah's political and military dominance has contributed to a state struggling with sovereignty, economic collapse and institutional paralysis.

In Syria, regime-backed Bashar Assad's government through years of war, while conflict devastated cities and displaced millions across the country.

In Iraq, regime-aligned militias expanded their political and military influence, complicating efforts to consolidate authority under national institutions and civilian government.

In Yemen, regime-backed Houthis have attacked commercial vessels, turning a vital maritime corridor into another front for regional conflict.

These outcomes complicate the Iranian regime's promise that resistance would produce dignity, security and stability rather than perpetual militarization and economic uncertainty.

The Axis of Resistance has built networks of armed influence, but its critics question what durable institutions those networks have actually created.

Religion, power and results

The comparison between the Iranian regime and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is uncomfortable, but the distinction matters because both sought legitimacy through claims of defending Islam.

Yet ISIS and the Iranian regime's proxy model are not identical, and equating them completely would erase important sectarian and organizational differences.

The deeper parallel lies in political violence being wrapped in religious legitimacy, leaving Muslim civilians to bear consequences of ideological choices.

ISIS degraded Islam through brutality, while the Iranian regime has pursued power through militias, proxy warfare and ideological coercion across neighboring states.

For Arabs watching these conflicts, the gap is increasingly between rhetoric and lived experience, not simply regime and Western policy alone.

The harder question, therefore, is whether the Axis built stability, or merely left societies in ruin and rebuilding broken states.