Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan said on Monday that the attack launched by Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” on the Kingdom’s security is considered a “declaration of war” by Beirut, adding that the Lebanese government should be aware of the dangers imposed by such acts.
The minister told Al-Arabiya television on Monday: “We will treat the government of Lebanon as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia due to the aggression of Hezbollah.”
Al-Sabhan added that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz had informed outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri of the details of “Hezbollah’s” aggression against Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Saudi sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that a year ago, the Kingdom presented to Hariri evidence proving “Hezbollah’s” involvement in acts targeting the security of Saudi Arabia by training al-Awamiya terrorists and by helping Houthis launch terrorist attacks on the Saudi borders.
The sources said that some evidence showed that “Hezbollah” was also involved with Iranians in the smuggling of missiles.
“Riyadh gave the Lebanese government an interval of 12 months to take action,” the sources said, adding that Lebanon did nothing despite being informed by Saudi Arabia about “Hezbollah’s” involvement in the previous violations.
“This is why Hariri was invited to visit the Kingdom, where he was shown the evidence and asked to take the necessary measures to prevent any hostile acts against Saudi Arabia’s security,” the sources said.
The Lebanese government was therefore given the choice either to support moderation and the Kingdom or Iran, they added.
The sources rejected claims that Hariri was forced to resign from his post.
“He chose to return from Lebanon to Riyadh and announce his resignation.”
Another source also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hariri had previously asked the Kingdom to bless Michel Aoun’s presidential candidature in return of an agreement between the Lebanese political entities to ensure that “Hezbollah” would not have a presence in Syria or target the Arab Gulf or Yemen.
However, after the election of Aoun and the appointment of Hariri, developments progressively turned in the opposite direction and Lebanon surrendered itself to Iran, according to the sources.
