Saudi Minister of State for Arab Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan denied on Saturday that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri was “pressured” to resign from his post.
He said that Saudi Arabia has stood by the official in all of his previous stances and it will “always” stand by him and the Lebanese people.
Commenting on Hariri’s surprise resignation, he said that Saudi Arabia’s primary concern is the Lebanese people’s safety and avoiding strife.
“The Kingdom has not and will not provoke Hariri to step down, but the problem that the Lebanese people try to avoid discussing is the existence of a diabolical party,” he stated in reference to “Hezbollah.”
“This militia is using weapons and its destructive machine in an attempt to destroy our peoples,” continued al-Sabhan.
“They tried to create strife within the Lebanese society and they tried to eliminate its culture and history,” he remarked to a Lebanese television station.
“What this militia has created is the smuggling of drugs, fighters and weapons to other countries. They have also worked on targeting the Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. Should we remain silent over this or should we reveal the problem to the reasonable people among the Lebanese?” he asked.
“The Kingdom is a safe haven to all the Lebanese people, while Iran’s party is working on creating unrest for the interest of a terrorist Iranian regime,” he stressed.
“There is no difference between the terrorist diabolical party and al-Qaeda and ISIS. We are demanding from the countries that united to confront ISIS to now cooperate to confront the terrorist regime in Iran and its terrorist son in Lebanon,” continued the Saudi official.
He underlined the need to “Hezbollah” to disarm “or suffer actual sanctions.”
Hariri announced on Saturday his resignation from his post due to Iran’s continued meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs through its proxy “Hezbollah.”
