Saudi, Bahrain target Iran at Arab League meeting

CAIRO: Saudi Arabia warned Sunday that it would not stand idly by in the face of Iranian “aggression”, as Bahrain said the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement was “in total control” of Lebanon.

The foreign ministers of both Gulf states spoke at an extraordinary general meeting of the Arab League at its Cairo headquarters, called by Riyadh.

The meeting comes as tensions soar between regional arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, including over League member Lebanon.

Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Iran, the predominant Shiite power, have for decades stood on opposing sides of conflicts in the Middle East including in Syria and Yemen.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel alJubeir warned Iran that Riyadh “will not hesitate to defend its national security to keep its people safe”, in opening remarks at the meeting.

Riyadh called the ministerial meeting to discuss “violations” by Iran after a missile was intercepted near Riyadh in a Nov 4 attack claimed by Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen.

In a resolution, the League issued a “strong condemnation” of this incident, saying it was “blatant aggression against the kingdom and a threat to Arab national security”.

The League ministers affirmed Riyadh’s right to defend its territory and said they would support all legitimate procedures it night take “against these Iranian violations”.

They also tasked “the Arab group in New York to address the security council president to clarify Iranian violations” of a UN Security Council resolution on Tehran’s ballistic missiles programme.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Ahmed Al- Khalifa said the Shiite Hezbollah movement in Lebanon was “in total control” of the country.

“Iran’s biggest arm in the region at the moment is the terrorist Hezbollah arm,” he said.

He added that Hezbollah “does not just carry out operations inside the borders of ( Lebanon), it also crosses its borders to all of our nations”, making it “a threat to Arab national security”. — AFP