Riyadh's move also reflects the kingdom's determination to push Lebanon "to take a harsher line on Hezbollah", he said. Lebanon is "one of the battlefields between Iran and Saudi Arabia" along with Syria, Yemen and Iraq, where the two regional rivals support opposing sides, Bitar added. 'Battlefields' - "Kordahi was only a pretext for something that was long in the making," he said. (and) everything to do with the Saudi-Iranian tug-of-war that has been ongoing for the past few years". The escalation "has very little to do with what this mediocre minister of information said.
against an external aggression", sparking angry rebukes from Saudi Arabia and its allies and calls in Lebanon for his resignation.Īnalyst Karim Bitar said Kordahi's remarks were just a trigger for a looming geopolitical showdown.
Kordahi said the Huthis were "defending themselves. The crisis is a fresh blow to Lebanon, a country in financial and political turmoil where a fragile government is struggling to secure international aid, namely from wealthy Arab neighbours.īut remarks by Information Minister Georges Kordahi, in an interview recorded back in August aired on Monday, slamming the Saudi-led military intervention against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, undermined these efforts. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait were quick to follow suit. The group, it said, controls Lebanese ports and "hijacks" the government's decision-making in Beirut.
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