Saudi and UAE ban citizens from travelling to Lebanon

[Madali]

The one thing you can't fault with Saudi under King Salman is that there isn't a dull day anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if one day conspiracy theorists claim that King Salman was a secret Iranain agent because I can't imagine a worse KSA foreign policy as we have been seeing in 2015-2016

Saudi and UAE ban citizens from travelling to Lebanon - Al Jazeera English



Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid travelling there after Riyadh halted $4bn in aid to Lebanese security forces in response to "hostile" positions linked to Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.

The Saudi foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday calling on "all citizens not to travel to Lebanon, for their safety, and asking citizens residing in Lebanon or visiting not to stay unless extremely necessary".

The statement, run by the official SPA news agency, urged citizens to contact the Saudi Embassy in Beirut.

Announcing the aid halt on Friday, an official said the kingdom had noticed "hostile Lebanese positions resulting from the stranglehold of Hezbollah on the state."

The UAE also banned its citizens from travelling to Lebanon and reduced its diplomatic presence in Beirut.

Bahrain also urged citizens against travelling to Lebanon, and called on Bahrainis there already to leave quickl, according to a statement posted to state news.

READ MORE: Lebanon minister quits over 'Hezbollah domination'

On Friday, the United Arab Emirates announced "full support" of Saudi's review of its relations with Lebanon, blaming the country's "failure to condemn Iran's aggression" in the embassy incident.

"The UAE fully supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's decision to halt its aid to the Lebanese army and security forces," said the UAE's foreign ministry statement, posted on state media on Tuesday.

"At the same time [the UAE] calls upon Lebanon and its people to restore Lebanon to the Arab Nation where it belongs, away from the Iranian influences adopted by the so-called Hezbollah," the UAE statement added.

READ MORE: Lebanon vows to maintain Saudi ties despite tensions

On Monday, Lebanon tried to repair relations and vowed to support Arab countries and maintain its Arab identity.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that Lebanon should maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia and that Arab countries must garner a unified response to all obstacles that they face.

"Lebanon will not forget Saudi Arabia's role ... in helping it rebuild the country after the [1975-1990] civil war," Salam said after a cabinet session.

Former prime minister Saad Hariri also expressed loyalty to the kingdom.

Lebanon's main political divide pits a Sunni-led coalition against another led by the Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah movement.

Lebanon has seen a series of armed attacks in recent years linked to the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

 

[HAIDER]

Wise step by Saudi and UAE govt. Using port to enter Syria.
Saad Hariri is Lebanese or Saudi ?

 

[500]

well said

 

[Full Moon]

Lebanon as a state is being hijacked by Hz (in other words by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard). That's just obvious. From seeing the Saudi foreign policy over the years, I doubt that this meant to loose the diplomatic relationships with Lebanon for long time. Despite being a small state, Lebanon is an important cultural hub in the Middle East as its people (the Lebanese) are way too cosmopolitan and dynamic folks to be lost. I think it is now time for some cold period in the relationship to try to open the eyes of the Lebanese people of the outcome of loosing the GCC (economically speaking).

In all events, the Lebanese Civil War (1974-1990) proved that no internal power nor external power can fully control Lebanon. It has always to be a peak for one party over the other which will be followed by painful concessions and compromises to adjust the balance of powers later.

 

[azzo]

They hate GCC so much, let's see how they will manage without GCC support/tourism/investments.

 

[jammersat]

they probably don't want them to make contact with israelis

 

[Max]

total surrender of Lebanon by Saudis? You dont leave a country unless u have no hope. congratulation to Iran for another victory, syrian dictator, Iraq, Lebanon, houthi all are now stooge of Mullahs.

 

[Blackmoon]

What happened to all moneys wasted on Saad Hariri ? didn't worked ?

 

[raptor22]

total surrender of Lebanon by Saudis? You dont leave a country unless u have no hope. congratulation to Iran for another victory, syrian dictator, Iraq, Lebanon, houthi all are now stooge of Mullahs.

Iraq has majority Shia and Iraqi Gov is result of an election held base on Iraqi constitution ... what does it have to do with Iran?

In Yemen , show me one single Iranian operating there .... it's Saudis that has been bombing Yemen not Iran .... even before Islamic revolution and Mullahs Saudis attacked Yemen , Egypt attacked Yemen ... interesting Iran never did .... Hothis are a major force in the country (some 40 percent) which effectively ruled over Yemen for centuries until the early 1960s .. Hadi presidential term was over back in 01/14/2014 and no election held to extend it while he was supposed to held an election what he didn't ....

In Lebanon ...current situation in Lebanon formed from a long long time ago ,when there was no Mullah ruling Iran or existence of Hezbollah, back in 1943 base on a national pact :

The National Pact (Arabic: الميثاق الوطني‎) is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state, having shaped the country to this day. Following negotiations between the Shi'ite, Sunni, and Maronite leaderships, the National Pact was born in the summer of 1943, allowing Lebanon to be independent.
​

They need to learn to pass this sectarianism.

​

In Syria: I repeat what Iran has proposed from the first day of the conflict which no one listened:

Hold a fair and free election and let Syrian to shape their own future ...​

 

[jammersat]

What happened to all moneys wasted on Saad Hariri ? didn't worked ?

it did work , he resigned peacefully

 

[Madali]

I was reading this Lebanese political forum on this topic.

Saudi Arabia penalizes Lebanon | The Orange Room - Lebanon's number one discussion forums

Majority (not all) seem to hate Saudi for their attitude. This is what surprises me about Saudi. They are panicking about Iranian influence in the region then take action that is actually harmful to their own influence.

If this continues, in a few years, pro-saudis will whine that Iran"s influence is growing. It's not because we are soooo smart and powerful, it's because the other regional players act so dumb!

We spend maybe 1% of what Saudi spends everywhere, yet they keep screwing it up.

 

[Zaneesh852]

well said

View attachment 295083

Iranians are usually more interested in helping "in kind" as one can see in Gaza,Yamen and Iraq/Syria.So brace yourself Lebs, soon you'd see shipments of AK-47s reaching your shores, bye bye Christians is some coming years. North Pole of evil (Republic of Mullah) will be replaced by the South pole (Republic of Ayattolah).

 

[Zaneesh852]

Lebanon as a state is being hijacked by Hz (in other words by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard). That's just obvious. From seeing the Saudi foreign policy over the years, I doubt that this meant to loose the diplomatic relationships with Lebanon for long time. Despite being a small state, Lebanon is an important cultural hub in the Middle East as its people (the Lebanese) are way too cosmopolitan and dynamic folks to be lost. I think it is now time for some cold period in the relationship to try to open the eyes of the Lebanese people of the outcome of loosing the GCC (economically speaking).

In all events, the Lebanese Civil War (1974-1990) proved that no internal power nor external power can fully control Lebanon. It has always to be a peak for one party over the other which will be followed by painful concessions and compromises to adjust the balance of powers later.

One thing where arabs are duds and farsis are amazing is the correct use of one's sectarian leverage.

1- Sunni proxies created by Arabs are exported the globalized version of extremist views. This results in developing a sense of independence in them, which ultimately drives them out of the ambit of their controllers. We have seen repeatedly that the such organizations ultimately ended up with global ambitions and thus not only freeing themselves from the influence of their creators but also causing troubles for them as they attacked other stakeholders (US,Europe etc).
2-Another factor is the use of local race i.e. Arabs in the creation of these proxies (for aligning them ethically perhaps) and allowing one's own citizens to muster the numbers up. However, This has created more headaches for the handlers as when these groups retaliate, them being from same ethnicity makes them difficult to be identified.
3-Arabs focus on supporting these groups with financial resources. Since these resources can be put to a wider use, these proxies use these funds to build broad based sustainable capacity, ultimately making them independent of their creators.
Iranians, on the other hand, have been far more successful because
1-They blend sect with localized objectives. While ISIS,AQ and Taliban grew quickly across borders. The Iranian proxies i.e. Hezb,Hauties, Hamas remain strictly contained unless deployed by Iranians across their borders.
2-The ideological objectives are strictly aligned with geographic objectives. So you'd not see Iranian proxies engaging any other stakeholder other than the ones they are raised to take on. Muqtada as Sadar was an exception when he started engaging Americans in Iraq but was soon quietened by the Tehran.
3-Iranians use either the local race or the foreigners to maintain the proxies. This makes them relatively immune to domestic blowback as a foreigner is more easily identifiable than a local. This also keeps any domestic pressures off the policy as there are no domestic bodybags to handle.
4-Iranians predominantly help in kind, you'd never see Iranians giving money to their proxies but rather the arms only. This keeps proxies from developing that crucial broadbased sustainability and keep them under tight control of creators. So one sees Iranians smuggling weapons to Hamas and Hauties while shipping oil to Asad regime as giveaways.
All in all, Iranians win hands down and rest of the world can learn a lot from them about how to wage a proxy war.