Saudis Gamble on Hariri Resignation to Check Iranian Grip on Lebanon

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Saudis Gamble on Hariri Resignation to Check Iranian Grip on Lebanon
BY BEN LYNFIELD   NOVEMBER 6, 2017 10:44 
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Saudis-gamble-on-Hariri-resignation-to-check-Iranian-influence-in-Lebanon-513468

"Saudi Arabia is more concerned than Israel about Iran."

Saad Hariri's apparently Saudi-dictated resignation as prime minister of Lebanon is the latest effort by Riyadh in its losing struggle to combat Iranian influence in the region.

Hariri announced his resignation Saturday in Saudi Arabia, citing a plot to assassinate him and blasting Hezbollah and Iran for their destructive role in Lebanon and other Arab countries.

[...]

By ordering Hariri to step down, the Saudis may be trying to create chaos in Lebanon in the hopes this will harm Hezbollah, Shavit said. "They hope a chaotic situation and difficulties assembling a government will limit Hezbollah's ability to maneuver and to achieve its objectives."

Hariri's resignation makes it more difficult for the creation of a coalition that allows Hezbollah the decisive voice, while at the same time paying lip service to other interests in Lebanon, Friedman said. "If Lebanon goes back to no functioning government and Hezbollah and Iran are seen as responsible for that, that damages the legitimacy of Hezbollah in Lebanon."

But in the view of Hebrew University scholar Yusri Hazran, it is doubtful that the Saudi gambit will succeed in really setting back Hezbollah, because it is simply too powerful in Lebanon. [...]


Excerpt.  Read more at http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Saudis-gamble-on-Hariri-resignation-to-check-Iranian-influence-in-Lebanon-513468