The Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council’s move puts pressure on Hezbollah as it continues to fight for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the civil war.
Advertisement
Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday said that Saudi Arabia does not have “the right to sanction the Lebanese people because one particular party took a certain position”. “It is a militia”. He also claimed that Saudi Arabia was directly responsible for some vehicle bombings in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq and the “massacres” in Yemen, AP reported, adding that Riyadh was trying to create tensions between Sunnis and Shiites across the world.
Gulf nations have taken a series of measures against Hezbollah since Saudi Arabia last month halted a billion program funding French military supplies to Beirut.
The official reiterated Iran’s support for Hezbollah which is famed for waging a successful battle against Israel and is now aiding the Syrian government to thwart a campaign by militants to overtake the Arab country. “We urge Riyadh to settle accounts with Hezbollah and not all the Lebanese”, Nasrallah said, according to AP.
In a statement to source, the source said that the destructive policies of the Saudi regime exemplify what the Arab proverb describes as “the worst calamity is that which makes you laugh”. Saudi Arabia is competing with Iran for influence across the region, and both sides back different factions in Lebanon and in wars in Syria and Yemen. Diplomatic ties were severed after Iranian protesters set fire to the Saudi embassy and another diplomatic mission in Iran.
Sheikh al-Sabah’s remarks come despite the fact that his country has joined Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf countries, except for Oman, in issuing a travel advisory against travel to Lebanon.
The GCC decision is just the latest move led by Saudi Arabia to distance itself from Lebanon and Hezbollah, which is the most influential force in the fractured country.
Advertisement
Damascus strongly condemned Wednesday a Gulf Cooperation Council resolution that labeled Hizbullah a “terrorist” organization, noting that it reflects “Saudi confusion”. Nasrallah said there would be no repeat of that conflict.
