Circle the area on this map
A. Iran gained great influence in Iraq after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, who had invaded Iran in 1980 with U.S. backing. When Hussein’s regime fell, Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority gained power. Iran is the most populous Shia Muslim nation and backs Iraq paramilitaries loyal to its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
B. While it does not acknowledge it, Israel is believed to have amassed an arsenal of about 400 nuclear weapons since developing nuclear capabilities in the 1960s. The agreement Trump scrapped last week was designed to halt Iran from building nuclear weapons. Israel has bombed nuclear reactors in Iraq and Syria in the past to block weapons development.
A. As the Syrian war appears to be winding down, the goals of Russia and Iran may be diverging. Russia favors a strong secular central government in Syria, while Iran may seek a weaker government that would allow its militias free rein. Russia did not condemn Israel’s strikes, as it had in the past, instead calling on Israel and Iran to resolve their differences diplomatically.
C. Hezbollah and its allies were seen as the biggest winners this month in Lebanon's first parliamentary vote since 2009. The Shia Isamist militia has been denounced as a terrorist group by the United States. It was organized by Iran to conduct a guerrilla campaign against Israel after it invaded Lebanon in 1982.