What is the Israel-Iran conflict?
The Israel-Iran conflict is not just about rockets or political statements—it is a multi-layered struggle that blends intelligence operations, proxy forces such as Hamas, cyber warfare, and regional influence. At its core, this conflict is a shadow war, fought as much in secret operations and online networks as on the ground.
Why does the conflict matter in 2025?
For the West, this matters deeply. Instability in the region can ripple globally, affecting energy markets, triggering terrorism risks, straining intelligence alliances, and influencing diplomatic relations. Understanding this conflict is crucial for policymakers, military strategists, and anyone trying to grasp why sudden flare-ups in the Middle East often make headlines worldwide.
How do covert operations shape the conflict?
Nick Berg’s Shadows of Tehran provides an insider perspective on these covert operations, illustrating how intelligence gathering, counterterrorism tactics, and the moral dilemmas of modern Special Forces shape the conflict in ways the public rarely sees. By examining these layers, we can begin to understand not only what is happening in Israel and Iran, but also why it matters to countries like the United States and across Europe.
The Israel-Iran conflict is not a distant problem—it is a strategic, ongoing challenge with tangible implications for global security, energy stability, and international policy. Staying informed requires looking beyond headlines to understand the hybrid warfare, proxies, and cyber operations that define modern Middle Eastern conflicts.
How does Iran use proxies like Hamas in this shadow war?
What does it mean to use a proxy in modern warfare?
Using a proxy means one country supports another group to achieve military and political goals without direct confrontation. In the Israel-Iran conflict, Iran leverages groups like Hamas to strike Israel indirectly, allowing Tehran to advance strategic objectives while minimizing its own exposure. This is a hallmark of hybrid warfare, combining political influence, covert operations, and military tactics.
How does Iran support Hamas?
Iran provides Hamas with funding, weapons, training, and strategic advice, strengthening its capacity to operate in Gaza and beyond. This support enables Hamas to:
Why does this matter for counterterrorism?
Modern counterterrorism isn’t just about stopping rockets—it focuses on monitoring, disrupting, and dismantling proxy networks. Intelligence agencies track financing, communication channels, and supply chains. Special Forces, cybersecurity units, and allied intelligence partners all collaborate to prevent proxy attacks before they occur, reducing both civilian and military risks.
Iran’s use of proxies like Hamas turns localized conflicts into regional security challenges. Understanding proxy dynamics is essential for the West, Israel, and international counterterrorism operations, highlighting why strategies must go beyond conventional battlefield responses.
What does counterterrorism look like on the ground today?
How has counterterrorism evolved in modern conflicts?
Counterterrorism today is not about large, open battles like traditional wars. Instead, it relies on a combination of human intelligence, Special Forces operations, cyber monitoring, and targeted pre-emptive strikes. The goal is to identify threats before they materialize, preventing attacks while minimizing collateral damage.
This approach is central in the Israel-Iran shadow war, where threats often emerge through proxy networks, encrypted communications, and cross-border logistics.
By integrating multiple intelligence sources, countries like Israel and the United States can disrupt plots without escalating into full-scale conflict.
What role do Special Forces play?
Special Forces units are at the frontline of modern counterterrorism. Their tasks include:
Nick Berg’s Shadows of Tehran illustrates how these operations require precision, discipline, and ethical judgment, showing readers that counterterrorism is as much about strategy as it is about action on the ground.
How do cyber operations complement ground efforts?
Cyber operations now form a critical pillar of counterterrorism. Intelligence agencies use digital surveillance to:
This cyber layer allows governments to act quickly, sometimes neutralizing threats before a physical response is needed.
What is the key goal of modern counterterrorism?
The primary goal is prevention and disruption, not just reaction. By dismantling networks early, intelligence and military agencies aim to stop attacks, protect civilians, and maintain regional stability. This approach also reduces the risk of escalation between states like Israel and Iran.
Why does hybrid warfare make this conflict different from traditional wars?
What is hybrid warfare?
Hybrid warfare combines conventional military force with irregular tactics like cyberattacks, misinformation campaigns, and proxy operations. It is a multi-domain approach, where battles are fought not just on the ground but also in the digital, political, and social spheres.
In the Israel-Iran conflict, hybrid warfare allows Iran to project influence without declaring full-scale war, while Israel must defend against a mix of rockets, cyberattacks, and clandestine operations simultaneously.
How does hybrid warfare affect counterterrorism efforts?
Counterterrorism in a hybrid war environment requires rapid adaptation and multi-layered strategies. Agencies can no longer rely solely on troops or intelligence in isolation—they must:
- Integrate cyber intelligence with human intelligence (HUMINT).
- Monitor proxy networks and online radicalization channels.
- Respond to disinformation campaigns that can destabilize public perception.
This constant need for vigilance increases operational complexity and requires coordination between Special Forces, cyber units, and intelligence agencies.
Why is this different from traditional wars?
Traditional wars are typically state-on-state conflicts with clear frontlines. Hybrid wars, like the Israel-Iran conflict, are fluid and multi-dimensional:
- There is no single battlefield. Threats can emerge from Gaza, cyberspace, or through financial networks.
- The adversary often operates indirectly, using proxies or misinformation rather than conventional armies.
- Success is measured not just in territory gained, but in network disruption, deterrence, and influence.
This means countries must be technologically advanced, highly agile, and strategically coordinated to protect their interests and allies.
Hybrid warfare transforms counterterrorism into a complex, multi-domain challenge. Understanding its mechanics is essential for Western governments, Israel, and global security stakeholders, highlighting why modern conflicts cannot be assessed with traditional war metrics.
How do Special Forces and intelligence agencies operate in these shadow conflicts?
What roles do Special Forces play in shadow conflicts?
Special Forces are the tip of the spear in counterterrorism, with core tasks that include special reconnaissance (collecting intelligence on proxy networks, potential attacks, and high-value targets), direct action (surgical raids to neutralize threats), and foreign internal defense / partner-force training (building local capacity to stabilize regions and reduce reliance on foreign troops).
In the Israel–Iran shadow war, much of this activity is covert and cross-border—precision strikes and clandestine actions aimed at degrading networks embedded among civilian areas and along regional supply routes—which is why so much of the conflict remains “invisible” to the public even as it shapes regional security.
How do intelligence agencies complement these operations?
Intelligence agencies are the eyes and ears for Special Forces. They trace funding streams and weapons flows to proxies like Hamas by mapping facilitators, front companies and smuggling routes—evidenced by the EU’s Hamas/PIJ sanctions listings (including entities tied to Hamas’s investment portfolio) and U.S. actions linking IRGC-QF to Hamas financing and weapons smuggling.
They also monitor digital communications and online recruitment—including activity on encrypted platforms—per UN CTED and independent research on platform disruption and jihadist migration.
They read political and social signals and counter information manipulation to anticipate escalation, using formal social-media monitoring and stratcom toolkits.
By fusing HUMINT with cyber and financial intelligence, as laid out in joint and service doctrine, agencies can pre-empt plots—often before the public ever knows a threat existed.
Why are these operations often “hidden”?
Operations in shadow conflicts must balance effectiveness with secrecy: OPSEC doctrine is explicit that revealing critical information can compromise or derail ongoing missions, so discretion is part of the plan—not an afterthought.
Special operations are designed for hostile, denied, and politically sensitive environments; if movements become public, they can invite retaliation or undesired escalation, which is why these actions stay low-visibility and time-sensitive.
At the policy level, covert action lets governments influence political or military conditions abroad while preserving plausible deniability, a way to apply pressure below the threshold of open war in hybrid conflicts.
In the Israel–Iran context, analysts describe a campaign of covert, cross-border, multi-domain actions that stays largely invisible to the public while shaping events.
Nick Berg’s Shadows of Tehran offers a narrative lens on this reality, where timing, discretion, and strategy matter as much as firepower.
Special Forces and intelligence agencies are essential for controlling shadow conflicts. Their precision, coordination, and discretion protect civilians, dismantle networks, and maintain regional stability. Understanding their role helps the public grasp why the Israel-Iran conflict may seem invisible, yet has profound global implications.
What role do cyber operations and information warfare play?
What are cyber operations in modern conflicts?
Cyber operations mean attacking, defending, or monitoring digital systems to gain a strategic edge.
In the Israel–Iran shadow war, that translates to intercepting and exploiting communications across proxy networks (Israel’s SIGINT posture around Hamas/Unit 8200 and post–Oct 7 analyses underscore how comms monitoring—and lapses—shape outcomes).
Hitting the money pipes that fund militants (U.S. Justice Department’s takedown of Hamas-linked crypto campaigns; EU listings of companies tied to Hamas’s investment portfolio).
And disrupting infrastructure remotely (U.S. advisories on IRGC-affiliated “CyberAv3ngers” abusing Unitronics PLCs in water and other critical sectors).
These tools let states act globally and often invisibly, shaping or pre-empting events without overt confrontation.
How is information warfare used alongside cyber operations?
Information warfare manipulates public perception and shapes narratives. Key tactics include:
Both Iran and Israel use these techniques to preemptively shape the battlefield, sometimes influencing foreign policy debates or global media coverage.
Why are these tools critical for counterterrorism?
Many modern attacks begin online:
Without strong cyber and information operations, states would face blind spots that allow proxy networks and extremists to operate unchecked.
Cyber operations and information warfare are now core elements of modern counterterrorism. They allow Israel and its allies to monitor threats, disrupt enemy networks, and shape public perception without engaging in full-scale battles, highlighting the complex, multi-domain nature of the Israel-Iran conflict.
How does the Israel-Iran conflict affect the West?
Why should the U.S. and Europe pay attention?
The Israel-Iran shadow conflict is not just a regional issue—its effects can ripple across the globe. Proxy attacks, cyber threats, and misinformation campaigns can reach Western countries, targeting infrastructure, financial systems, or civilians. For intelligence and security agencies, monitoring these threats is essential to prevent escalation and protect citizens abroad and at home.
- U.S. and allied forces intercepted 80+ Iranian drones/missiles aimed at Israel, underscoring how the conflict immediately pulls in Western militaries and air-defense assets.
- Iran’s first direct drone/missile attack on Israeli territory triggered urgent Western support and raised the risk of wider escalation impacting global security.
- IRGC-linked “CyberAv3ngers” targeted industrial control systems (Unitronics PLCs) used in water and other critical sectors, a cyber threat with direct relevance to U.S. and European infrastructure.
- The U.S. Justice Department seized Hamas-linked cryptocurrency, showing how financial networks tied to Iran-backed groups are pursued through Western courts and exchanges.
- A separate DOJ civil forfeiture action targeted ~$2M in digital currency tied to Hamas/PIJ, illustrating continuing efforts to disrupt terror finance that touches Western platforms.
- The EU sanctioned companies connected to Hamas’s investment portfolio, cutting off funding channels that run through Europe’s financial system.
- Houthi (Iran-aligned) attacks in the Red Sea have reshaped global shipping and insurance, with premiums surging and traffic through key chokepoints dropping.
- The IEA’s Oil Market Report flags energy-security risks amid Israel–Iran tensions, reflecting how market volatility radiates to OECD economies.
- Meta’s Q1-2025 Adversarial Threat Report documents Iranian covert influence operations, showing how misinformation campaigns target foreign audiences on Western platforms.
- Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center details Iran’s surge in cyber-enabled influence supporting Hamas, evidencing information ops intended to sway global opinion.
- The U.S. Intelligence Community’s 2025 Annual Threat Assessment highlights Iranian cyber and influence activity, reinforcing why Western agencies must continuously monitor and share intelligence.
How does regional instability impact global energy markets?
Because Iran sits astride the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz—the world’s most important oil-transit chokepoint—any flare-up risks constraining flows that underpin global supply.
When Israel–Iran tensions spike, crude prices jump as traders price in shipping and supply risks, a pattern seen during the June 2025 escalation.
That volatility transmits to European and U.S. economies via energy costs and financial markets, with multilaterals noting conflict-driven price swings and uncertainty in their commodity and macro outlooks.
It also sharpens Western energy-security planning—prompting closer monitoring and diversification—highlighted by the IEA during the 2025 Israel–Iran crisis and reflected in the EU’s ongoing REPowerEU strategy.
In short, a regional shock can surface in everyday life far from the Middle East through fuel prices, inflation pressure, and policy shifts.
Why is intelligence-sharing crucial among Western allies?
Western countries rely on shared intelligence to counter hybrid threats: allies pool signals, cyber, and financial intelligence to track Iran-linked or proxy cyberattacks, uncover terrorism/disinformation networks, and coordinate pre-emptive and diplomatic responses—because without that cooperation, blind spots emerge that adversaries exploit.
How does this conflict affect civilians indirectly?
Yes—indirect effects are real. Online threats spill over when Iranian state-linked actors and aligned networks run phishing, hacking, and influence operations that target people and organizations in Europe and the U.S.; recent advisories and industry reports document Iranian campaigns against Western users and platforms, including covert influence ops disrupted by Meta and cyber activity tracked by Google’s Threat Analysis Group.
Can these conflicts hit wallets and prices?
Energy shocks and market swings from Middle East escalations can nudge up fuel and transport costs that feed into inflation; recent analysis shows oil reacting to Israel–Iran tensions and highlights how geopolitical risk transmits to advanced economies.
Do policy, travel, and trade rules change?
Authorities tighten aviation and maritime risk postures during flare-ups—Europe’s aviation regulator issued conflict-zone bulletins for Iran/Israel/Iraq/Jordan/Lebanon, while maritime warnings and statements from industry bodies and naval reporting centers track Red Sea/Houthis threats that have altered shipping routes and insurance costs.
Even when Western civilians aren’t the intended targets, cybercrime/propaganda, energy-price volatility, and travel/trade restrictions can touch daily life—another reason to follow credible updates and threat guidance.
The Israel-Iran conflict extends far beyond the region itself. Western nations, economies, and civilians are impacted through cyber threats, proxy operations, energy market volatility, and intelligence challenges. Recognizing these links is essential for informed public awareness, policy decisions, and international cooperation.
What are the ultimate goals of these counterterrorism efforts?
Why focus on containment and deterrence?
The primary goal of counterterrorism in the Israel–Iran shadow war is prevention and disruption: identify threats early and break them apart before they go kinetic, as reflected in U.S. joint doctrine and the EU’s counter-terrorism framework.
In practice, that means dismantling proxy networks like Hamas—including their finance and logistics pipelines—to stop rocket fire or terror operations before they’re launched, as documented in U.S. Treasury actions against IRGC-QF support channels to Hamas/PIJ.
It also means containing and weakening Iranian influence without tipping into full-scale war, the logic behind Israel’s “campaign between wars” of limited, preventive strikes.
Ultimately, the aim is to protect civilians and maintain regional stability while avoiding major escalations.
How does intelligence gathering support these goals?
Intelligence is the backbone of counterterrorism: it helps Israel and its allies anticipate Iran’s moves—its military planning, nuclear ambitions, and political strategies—spot emerging threats from proxies or wider regional instability, and design surgical operations that minimize collateral damage.
Anchoring decisions in timely intelligence keeps every action purposeful, lowers the risk of escalation, and safeguards credibility on the global stage.
Strategic advantage ensures that Iran cannot dictate terms unilaterally, keeping the balance of power stable in a volatile region.
The ultimate goal of Israel’s counterterrorism efforts is prevention, disruption, and deterrence. By weakening proxy networks, gathering intelligence, and leveraging Special Forces, Israel and its allies aim to maintain security, protect civilians, and prevent a wider regional war.
Why does Nick Berg’s Shadows of Tehran provide unique insight?
Berg’s Shadows of Tehran opens the door to the part of war most people never see—the quiet hours, the impossible choices, the weight that lingers after the mission ends.
Through Special Forces operators and intelligence professionals moving in the dark, he shows how covert work tests courage and conscience in equal measure.
The story sits with the moral and emotional toll of high-stakes decisions, tracing how resilience is built, how leaders choose under pressure, and how ethical lines blur when lives are on the line.
Rooted in real-world understanding, the novel turns headlines into human stakes, giving civilians a clear, compassionate view of the invisible wars shaping our era.
If you’ve ever wanted to feel the human pulse beneath the geopolitics, this is where to begin.
How can ordinary people understand or prepare for these complex conflicts?
Even if you’re not in uniform or government, the Israel–Iran conflict touches daily life: proxy wars, cyberattacks, and hybrid tactics can destabilize regions that feed the West’s security, trade, and energy markets, nudging fuel prices and supply chains while shaping how allies share intelligence and set counterterrorism policy.
The best defense is clarity—follow trusted geopolitical reporting instead of hot takes, read expert work on hybrid warfare and proxy networks, and compare viewpoints to spot bias and propaganda.
Practically, keep learning about intelligence tradecraft, modern Special Forces, and regional politics; support credible humanitarian and educational efforts in affected areas; and lean into civil, informed conversation rather than fear-driven narratives.
Fictionalized memoirs can help, too: a novel like Shadows of Tehran translates strategy into human stakes—vividly depicting Special Forces, intelligence challenges, and the moral calculus behind counterterrorism—so readers feel both the logic and the cost of “invisible” wars.
The takeaway is simple: stay informed, connect the strategic with the human, and engage with resources that explain why proxy attacks or cyber operations are part of a broader design—not random flashes in the news or snackable information on social media.
