RIYADH: Saudi Arabia accused Lebanon on Monday of declaring war against it because of aggression by the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Lebanon has been thrust to the centre of regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran since the Saudi-allied Lebanese politician Sa’ad Hariri quit as prime minister on Saturday, blaming Iran and Hezbollah in his resignation speech.
Saudi Gulf affairs minister Thamer Al Sabhan said the Lebanese government would “be dealt with as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia” because of the aggression by Hezbollah.
- Thamer Al Sabhan | Saudi minister
Faulting the Hariri-led administration for failing to take action against Hezbollah during a year in office, Al Sabhan said “there are those who will stop [Hezbollah] and make it return to the caves of South Lebanon”.
In an interview with Al Arabiya TV, he added: “Lebanese must all know these risks and work to fix matters before they reach the point of no return.” He did not spell out what action Saudi Arabia might take against Lebanon, a country with a weak and heavily indebted state that is still rebuilding from its 1975-90 civil war and where one in four people is a Syrian refugee.
There was no immediate comment from the Lebanese government.
Hezbollah has played a major role in the war in neighbouring Syria, another theatre of Saudi-Iranian rivalry where Hezbollah has fought in support of the government.
Lebanese authorities said on Monday the country’s financial institutions could cope with Hariri’s resignation and the stability of the Lebanese pound was not at risk.
But the cash price of Lebanon’s US dollar-denominated bonds fell, with longer-dated maturities suffering hefty losses as investors took a dim view of the medium- to longer-term outlook for Lebanon.
Hariri cited a plot to assassinate him during his unexpected resignation speech broadcast from Saudi Arabia which caught even his aides off guard. He also slammed Hezbollah and Iran, accusing them of sowing strife in the Arab world.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said Riyadh had forced Hariri to resign.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir said it was “nonsense” to suggest Hariri had been coerced into quitting in a CNN interview on Monday. Hariri had quit because Hezbollah had been “calling the shots” in the government, he said. Hariri, a who holds dual Saudi as well as Lebanese citizenship, was free to leave the country at any time, he said.
Earlier on Monday, President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, appealed for national unity.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, another political ally of Hezbollah, said in a televised statement after meeting Aoun it was too early to talk about forming a new government.
The Hariri-led government took office last year in a political deal that made Aoun president. The deal ended years of deadlock, and last month it produced Lebanon’s first budget since 2005.
Hariri flew to Saudi Arabia on Friday after meeting in Beirut the top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader.
