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A diplomatic row between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia – prompted by a senior Lebanese cabinet minister slamming the Saudi military intervention in Yemen – has raised fears that the Middle East’s geopolitical faultlines will amplify Lebanon’s already acute political and economic crises.
Lebanon urged Saudi Arabia to be receptive to “dialogue” on Monday to resolve the diplomatic crisis between the two countries, amid Riyadh’s anger over Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi’s description – before he entered government – of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the war in Yemen as “absurd”.
Saudi Arabia stopped imports from Lebanon on Friday, after recalling its ambassador from Beirut – a move emulated by several Gulf countries – and requesting the departure of the Lebanese ambassador in Riyadh. This sweeping sanction dealt a severe blow to a country already reeling from a severe economic crisis.
Kordahi is backed by Hezbollah and does not intend to resign. Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s recently formed government – already racked by bitter divisions over the inquiry into the August 2020 Beirut explosion – finds itself even more weakened by the diplomatic spat.
FRANCE 24 spoke to Karim Sader, a political consultant specialising in Gulf states, on the causes and consequences of the crisis.
What caused this crisis? And what are its political consequences for Lebanon likely to be?
It’s important to note that relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have not been good since 2016, when President Michel Aoun was elected – in large part due to his alliance with Hezbollah [the political-military Lebanese proxy of Iran, Saudi Arabia’s Shia arch-nemesis].
Riyadh found it hard to stomach the intensifying power and influence Hezbollah exerts in Lebanon, a country in which the…
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Source : france24
