Earlier in the week, it was Saudi Arabia that announced that Lebanon declared war on Saudi Arabia. Now, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah is accusing Saudi Arabia of declaring war on Lebanon.
Who is to be believed? It has long been the case that the two primary jihad-funding states of Iran (Shia) and Saudi Arabia (Sunni) — between which tensions are obviously heating up — have been in a quest for regional hegemony. As expected, the State of Israel enters the equation:
The Saudi plot also involved inciting Israel to strike Lebanon, Nasrallah claimed. However, he believes that a new Israeli war with Lebanon is unlikely, as the Israelis know how high its cost would be. He also warned Tel Aviv against trying to exploit the unfolding crisis in Lebanon for its own ends.
How could Zionism and Israel not enter the equation among jihadists? it is an obsession. As expected, Israel is deceptively made out to be an “exploiter,” when the tiny Jewish nation has been fighting for its very survival against jihadist thugs since 1948, after Jews survived the Holocaust. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem collaborated with the Nazis and was determined to destroy any chance of Jews settling in the Middle East.
Everyone knows that Hizballah is an Iranian proxy, and that Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, has openly called for Israel’s destruction. He even stated that the “barbaric Jewish state has no cure but to be annihilated.”
Meanwhile, to add a little more suspense to the “case of the missing Lebanese Prime Minister,” even prior to his departure, anxiety had been stirring in the region about:
an impulsive, youthful Saudi leader escalating threats to roll back growing Iranian influence, an equally impulsive Trump administration signaling broad agreement with Saudi policies, and increasingly pointed warnings from Israel that it may eventually fight another war with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says Saudi Arabia has declared war on Lebanon, adding that the “detention” and “house arrest” of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri an “unprecedented Saudi intervention” in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
The reports of the assassination plot were fabricated by the Saudis, Nasrallah said, while the PM’s resignation speech was also written by them, he claimed in a televised speech.
The Hezbollah leader also stated that the Lebanese government is still legitimate and urged all the parties to cooperate with it.Nasrallah claimed that Hariri was prevented by the Saudis from returning to Lebanon, while the whole situation around resignation of the PM was an “unprecedented Saudi intervention” in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
Hariri is a prisoner in Saudi Arabia, and cannot return to his own country. Saudi Arabia is seeking to impose its will on the Lebanese government. It is trying to sow the seeds of discord among various political factions here and pit them against each other,” the Hezbollah leader said, as quoted by Press TV.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has released a statement “cautioning against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts.” Washington urges all parties “to respect the integrity and independence of Lebanon’s legitimate national institutions,” including the government and the army, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated Friday, adding: “In this regard, we respect Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri as a strong partner of the United States.”
The Saudi plot also involved inciting Israel to strike Lebanon, Nasrallah claimed. However, he believes that a new Israeli war with Lebanon is unlikely, as the Israelis know how high its cost would be. He also warned Tel Aviv against trying to exploit the unfolding crisis in Lebanon for its own ends.The most recent armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in 2006 and effectively resulted in a stalemate. Both sides, however, claimed victory.
The alleged Saudi actions against Lebanon were prompted by the kingdom’s anger at the failure of its politics in the country, as well as in its neighbor, Syria, Nasrallah stated. Riyadh, in fact, failed across all arenas in the region and will fail again with its new endeavor in Lebanon, the Hezbollah leader added.
READ MORE: Saudi Arabia v Iran: What’s behind bitter feud between Middle Eastern powers?
The recent remarks made by the top Saudi officials equate to a “declaration of war” against Lebanon and Hezbollah, Nasrallah said. Earlier this week, the Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs, Thamer al-Sabhan, said that the Lebanese administration would be “dealt with as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia,” and blamed Hariri’s administration for its inaction towards Hezbollah over the past year……