Across
1. Rocket interception system used by a Middle Eastern power
3. Strategic chokepoint in Gulf tensions
8. Practitioner of hit-and-run warfare
11. State of uncertainty with no resolution
12. Visual representation of territory
13. Levantine state fractured by civil war
15. Military actions triggering regional escalation in the Middle East
16. Islamic tradition linked to clerical rule in Tehran
19. Outcome of prolonged hostilities in the Middle East
20. Union of states for military cooperation
23. Offensive step preceding retaliation
24. Historic Levantine city at the heart of a civil war
26. Regional power shaping Middle East geopolitics
27. Historical designation for a key Middle Eastern region
28. Resource impacted by disruptions in the Gulf
29. City linked to one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites
30. Organization with strong influence in southern Lebanon
Down
1. Key player in current Middle East tensions (abbr.)
2. Organized military activity
4. Energy export hub in Gulf regions
5. Slave-soldier of medieval Middle East
6. Basel-based political movement of 1897
7. Organization emerging from the First Intifada
9. Movement opposing control or domination
10. Currency of a nation spanning Europe and Asia
14. Situation that emerged following U.S.–Israel strikes on Iran
17. Strategic port city in a conflict-prone region
18. Absorb territory into sovereign control
19. Tool designed for combat
21. People without a sovereign state in the Middle East
22. Major trade infrastructure affected by the current Middle East crisis
25. Ruler displaced by the Islamic Revolution
