BEIRUT (Dispatches) – The
diplomatic crisis between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia is rooted in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)’s “fear” of the liberation of the Yemeni strategic city of Ma’rib amid Beirut’s support for Yemenis during the Saudi war, a high-ranking Hezbollah official says.
Hashim Safi al-Din, head of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, said in a statement that it is not “reasonable” to think that the diplomatic crisis is related to remarks made by the Lebanese information minister “but rather it is greater than that.”
“What is happening in Saudi Arabia is a major thing, as the Saudis and the Persian Gulf [countries] in general, who have followed the path of forming relations with Israel, cannot bear a voice from Lebanon and others who will criticize them in the future over the Saudi-Israeli relations, which will be made public in the coming days,” he added.
The senior Hezbollah official said that the Saudi Crown Prince lives in a state of “dilemma and anxiety” and will have to face a great situation after the fall of Ma’rib, emphasizing that MBS is fearful of losing all his illusions.
He warned that all those who work to interrupt the Lebanese government, undermine the country’s stability, and mount U.S. and Saudi sanctions to destroy Lebanon, highlighting Hezbollah’s sacrifices “in order not to lead our country to internal clashes, and for this, we [have striven to] resolve the economic and internal problems of the Lebanese people.”
Safi al-Din emphasized that those who are pushing to fabricate security, diplomatic and political crises in Lebanon are the ones that are working to sabotage the country.
He said that the future of Lebanon is not in the hands of the Saudis “but in the hands of God and thanks to those who sacrificed for the dignity of the country.”
Saudi Arabia will not tolerate any criticism in the future, especially after its relations with the Zionist regime will be public in the coming days, he added.
The Saudi-Lebanon row began after George Kordahi, who currently serves as Lebanon’s information minister, said during a television program, which was aired last Monday, that the 2015-present Saudi-led war on Yemen was an act of aggression by Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the kingdom’s most significant ally in the military campaign.
He called the war “absurd,” saying it had to stop because he was opposed to wars between Arabs. The minister also said the Yemeni army forces and their allied fighters from the Popular Committees were “defending themselves ... against an external aggression.”
The Saudi kingdom subsequently recalled its ambassador from Beirut and expelled the Lebanese envoy from the Saudi capital.
A Lebanese lawmaker said on Saturday that a country that failed in its war on Yemen is now planning to take revenge against Lebanon over its support for the oppressed Yemeni people.
“Today, we are facing a crisis created by one of the regional countries that launched a cruel war against another Arab country and lost it,” Lebanon’s al-Ahed news website quoted Mohammad Raad, head of Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc — the political wing of the Hezbollah resistance movement — in the Lebanese parliament as saying, apparently referring to Saudi Arabia.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged Kordahi to “put his patriotic sense above all else” to defuse a crisis with Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV channel citing him as saying Monday.
Lebanese TV channel Al Jadeed cited Kordahi as saying on Sunday that resigning from the Mikati government was out of the question.