In this Commentary LISD non-resident associate Walter Posch analyzes the implications of the presence of pro-Iranian Shia militias in Syria both for relations between Iran and Israel, and for Iranian domestic politics. "Israel especially made it clear that a deployment of these groups close to the Israeli border will be regarded as a threat and therefore, will be forcefully resisted," Posch writes about escalating tensions between Iran and Israel. Although the "dreaded escalation between Israel and Iran may not have occurred, yet," he continues, "the situation ... remains very tense." On the domestic front, Posch sees the militia issue as part and parcel of "an ideological-strategic factional struggle: will Iran, as Ruhani wants, act as a nation-state which uses its resources for its own economic development, or will Ra’isi’s faction prevail, who, like his Iraqi friends, has visions of a permanent Shiite world revolution which must ultimately culminate in confronting Israel?"