Earlier this month, Iran’s most well-known foreign proxy, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, launched numerous rockets at Israel, making international headlines. It is seen as part of Iran’s expected response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its own soil, which Iran blamed, or credited, depending on your point of view, on Israel. Yet Hezbollah launching rockets at Israel is not new. It’s been continuous starting almost immediately after Hamas’s assault on Oct. 7, 2023. Roughly 60,000 people were ordered to evacuate Israel’s northern border as a result. The latest attack only made major headlines because of Iran’s threatened retaliation.

This points to a larger truth: Much of what Iran and its vast network of influence operators, close allies, and proxy groups are doing across the region and even around the world escapes sufficient scrutiny by much of the public and even the policymaking community.