Iran’s Elite Guard Takes Charge of Hezbollah Amid War Fears, Report Says
With U.S. forces building up nearby and threats from President Trump, Iran might be leaning harder on its allies. Western and Israeli intel has long flagged IRGC’s role in guiding Hezbollah, but recent chatter suggests it’s more about working together than total control.
A new report claims that Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, has stepped in to run Hezbollah in Lebanon, getting the group ready for a possible fight with Israel and the United States.
According to sources close to Hezbollah who spoke to the Saudi-owned news outlet Al-Arabiya, IRGC officers, some fresh from Iran, are now rebuilding Hezbollah’s military strength. They’re briefing fighters and setting things up for conflict.
A report by The Times of Israel points out that IRGC folks were meeting with Hezbollah’s missile team in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley right before an Israeli airstrike hit there on February 20. That strike killed 12 people, including a top Hezbollah commander.
It’s no secret that Iran and Hezbollah have been working together for decades. The IRGC helped start Hezbollah back in the 1980s and has kept supplying them with money, training, weapons, and big-picture advice as part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance.”
Although there’s no outside confirmation of a full IRGC takeover, it fits with what we’ve seen lately. Iranian media and Hezbollah leaders describe their bond as a strong partnership, not one where Iran calls all the shots. For example, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, said in January 2026 that they wouldn’t sit out a U.S.-Iran clash, showing they’re lined up with Tehran.
Also, Al-Arabiya is from Saudi Arabia, which sees Hezbollah as an Iranian tool stirring up trouble in the region, so there could be some bias there. Neither Iran nor Hezbollah has shot down the report publicly, but that might just be them not wanting to give it more air.
This comes at a critical time for Iran. Since 2024, they’ve faced setbacks: Hezbollah got hit hard in fights with Israel, Syria’s Assad regime fell, and there’ve been direct strikes on Iranian targets by the U.S. and Israel (June 2025).
If the Times of Israel report is accurate, it could mean Iran’s ramping up for something bigger, especially with worries over its nuclear and missile programs.