Beirut: A few days before celebrating the first anniversary of his return to power, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on Saturday, delivering a high-tone speech from Riyadh, blaming his resignation on Hezbollah and Iran.
The move comes one week after Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer Al Sabhan called for the toppling of Hezbollah, promising “astonishing developments” in the coming days.
The surprise resignation was made in a televised address, where Hariri launched a vicious attack on Tehran, saying: “Iran’s arms in the region will be cut off.”
He of course was referring to Hezbollah, the Lebanese military group that held two posts in Hariri’s cabinet. The ministry of sports and youth is held by a Hezbollah minister and so is the portfolio of industry, while the ministries of agriculture, finance, and state development are in the hands of its ally, the Amal movement.
Hariri had returned to office after a five-year absence last November, through a power-sharing deal that was reached between him and General Michel Aoun, the current president.
The agreement called for Hariri and his team approving Aoun’s ascent to the presidency, a post he has coveted since the 1980s, in exchange for restoring Hariri to the premiership.
Relations have since deteriorated sharply between the two leaders, mainly due to Hezbollah’s refusal to end its involvement in the Syria war and Aoun’s limitless support to Hezbollah. Frequently, Hariri has been critical of Hezbollah’s arms, stressing in his resignation speech that its weapons should be in the hands of the Lebanese state.
Last August, two members of Hariri’s cabinet defied his request and visited Damascus, despite the official policy of the Lebanese government to stand at arms-length from both sides of the Syrian conflict.
In September, Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil met with his Syrian counterpart Walid Mouallem. Hariri himself has repeatedly called for the toppling of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, and stressed that he would never visit Damascus before the fall of the Syrian regime, which he accuses of assassinating his father Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
“The evil that Iran spreads in the region will backfire on it,” Hariri said on Saturday, accusing the Iranian regime of spreading chaos and sectarianism throughout the Middle East. Hezbollah’s actions, he added, have put Lebanon “in the eye of the storm”, due to the rise of religious extremism in certain pockets since 2014, noting: “Hezbollah was able in the past decades to impose a status quo in Lebanon through its weapons directed at the chest of Syrians and Lebanese.”
Hariri hinted that he feared for his life, saying that Lebanon was living in a climate “similar to the atmosphere that prevailed before the assassination of martyr Rafik Hariri.” He added, “I have sensed what is being plotted covertly to target my life.”
Lebanese MP Amin Wehbe of Hariri’s Future Bloc noted that the resignation was “clear”, seeing that it plunges Lebanon into dangerous escalation.
Meanwhile, former MP Karim Al Rasi added that “this was expected” and that Hariri had pondered about his resignation for some time. He expressed regret that none of his allies were informed about the decision beforehand, not even Aoun, describing the coordination between Aoun and Hariri as “artificial.”
Meanwhile, heavyweight Druze leader Walid Junblatt noted: “Honestly, Lebanon is smaller and weaker than being able to withstand the economic and political burdens of this resignation. I was and always will be an advocate of dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
