April 7, 2026, 12:27 p.m. ET
As the world waits to see whether or not the U.S. navy will launch main strikes on Iran’s crucial infrastructure, considerations of retaliation from the Middle Eastern nation continued to flow into on April 7.
President Donald Trump earlier this week warned that American assaults would depart the nation unable to get well if its leaders do not meet a deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, an important oil route.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote in an April 7 submit on Truth Social.
The president left the door open to a potential eleventh-hour deal with Iran to keep away from an escalation, saying U.S. leaders have been privately negotiating with a bunch of Iranian officers who are “smarter” and “less radicalized” than their predecessors.
After Trump’s declaration, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced, “more than 14 million proud Iranians had so far registered to sacrifice their lives to defend Iran.”
“I too have been, am, and will remain devoted to giving my life for Iran,” Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X.
So far, the battle has concerned Israel and the United States on one aspect and Iran on the opposite. But because the struggle continues, here’s a have a look at Iran’s allies and different nations tied the Middle Eastern nation.
Who are Iran’s allies?
- Russia: Moscow has beforehand warned that any direct U.S. motion on Iranian soil would quantity to “a dangerous escalation.” In June 2025, President Vladimir Putin met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow and stated there was no justification for the U.S. assault final yr and called aggression against Iran groundless.
- China: The nation said it strongly condemned U.S. attacks on Iran, alleging America violated the UN Charter and worldwide regulation. It referred to as for a ceasefire however up to now has not supplied Iran any main help.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio has beforehand referred to as on China to forestall Iran from blocking the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes. China is the most important purchaser of Iranian oil, and the 2 nations are pleasant.
- North Korea: The nation has beforehand condemned U.S. strikes towards Iran, calling them a mass violation of a sovereign state’s safety pursuits and territorial rights, its state media reported.
- But Reuters on April 7 reported South Korean lawmakers − citing Seoul’s National Intelligence Service − stated North Korea appeared to be distancing itself from Iran “carefully managing its public messaging to preserve the possibility of a new relationship with the U.S. after the Iran war.”
Countries tied to Iran
- Lebanon: Iran has ties with Lebanon and militant group Hezbollah, a political get together the United States designated a terrorist group. The group formed within the Nineteen Eighties throughout Lebanon’s civil struggle to struggle towards two Israeli invasions of Lebanese territory, in accordance to the Council on Foreign Relations.
- An ally of Hamas, it has vowed to support the group in its struggle with Israel.
- Syria: Iran and Syria had shut ties through the Iran-Iraq war, however these have diminished because the ouster of the President Bashar al-Assad. Rebel forces ousted the dictator’s regime, and he fled with his family to Russia in 2024.
- Yemen: Iran has been attacking American ships in The Red Sea by their proxies in Yemen, the Houthis. America has responded with air strikes towards them. In early May 2025, Trump stated America would finish airstrikes on Houthi militants in Yemen efficient instantly.
- Iraq: Iran, which shares a virtually 1,000-mile border with Iraq, has ties to Iraqi militant teams together with Kataib Hezbollah, the Badr Organization and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq. In January 2020, Iran launched 13 ballistic missiles at American troops in Iraq.
Contributing: Christopher Cann with USA TODAY
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and observe her on X @nataliealund.
