We Won’t stand idle, Riyadh WaRns tehRan
Bahrain says Lebanon under the full control of Hezbollah
cairo — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir told an Arab League meeting on Sunday that Riyadh will not stand idly by in the face of Iran’s “aggression”.
Saudi Arabia “will not hesitate to defend its national security to keep its people safe”, Al Jubeir said in opening remarks to the Cairo meeting. His country had called the meeting of foreign ministers at the League’s headquarters to discuss “violations” committed by Iran after a missile was intercepted near Riyadh in a November 4 attack claimed by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Bahrain’s foreign minister said that Lebanon is under the “total control” of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
“The Lebanese Republic, in spite of our relations with it as a brotherly Arab nation, is under the total control of this terrorist party,” Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said in his speech.
“Iran’s biggest arm in the region at the moment is the terrorist Hezbollah arm,” Sheikh Khalid charged. He called on countries such as Lebanon “where Hezbol- lah is a partner in government to carry their responsibility”.
Saudi Arabia asked fellow Arabs to take a “serious and honest” stand against Iran, saying that showing leniency towards Tehran would only encourage it to press on with its “aggression” and “meddling” in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
Al Jubeir said the pan-Arab organisation needed to take a decision to be “non-compromising” in dealing with Iran. He cited the ballistic missile fired by Iranianbacked rebels in Yemen earlier this month as an example of how far Iran has gone with its aggressive policy in the region.