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Groton Daily Independent
Sunday, Nov. 09, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 119 ~ 32 of 34
boring Syria to shore up President Bashar Assad’s forces.
It was not immediately clear whether Hariri intended to return to Lebanon. In a statement, the presi-
dential of ce said Aoun was informed by Hariri in a phone call of his resignation, adding that the president now awaits Hariri’s return to clarify the circumstances of his resignation and proceed accordingly.
Hariri’s bombshell resignation — even close aides seemed unaware of the announcement — ushers in a stage of deep uncertainty and potential instability. It also throws into doubt parliamentary elections slated for early next year which have been repeatedly delayed.
It comes amid a sharp escalation in Saudi rhetoric against its regional archrival Iran and puts Lebanon at the center of that rivalry.
Hazem al-Amin, a Lebanese writer who follows regional affairs, said Hariri’s resignation is “completely a Saudi step” that comes in the context of an international and regional atmosphere against Hezbollah and against Iranian in uence in the region.
“Lebanon is a fragile country. This confrontation (between Saudi Arabia and Iran) is more violent than Lebanon can stand up to,” he said, warning of economic and security rami cations.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the resignation is a plot by the U.S., Israel and the Saudis to foment tensions in Lebanon and the region, the semi-of cial Iranian Tasnim news agency reported.
Ghasemi dismissed Hariri’s “baseless accusations,” which he said indicate that “a new scenario” for the region was being drawn.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hariri’s resignation and comments “are a wake-up call to the international community to take action against the Iranian aggression that is trying to turn Syria into Lebanon 2.”
“This aggression endangers not only Israel but the entire Middle East. The international community needs to come together and stand against this aggression,” he said.
Hariri’s resignation was unprecedented in the way it was announced, in a televised address from an undisclosed location in Riyadh. In his speech, Hariri suggested he feared for his life and said the climate in the country is similar to the one that existed before his father, the late prime minister Ra k Hariri, was assassinated in 2005.
Several Hezbollah members are being tried in absentia for the killing by a U.N.-backed tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Hezbollah denies any involvement.
Hariri said Hezbollah’s policies have put Lebanon “in the eye of the storm.” His attacks on Hezbollah come on the heels of new U.S. sanctions on the group that many fear will impact negatively on the Lebanese economy. Hariri has frequently called on the group to withdraw its ghters from Syria.
“I declare my resignation from the premiership of the Lebanese government, with the certainty that the will of the Lebanese is strong,” Hariri said.
“When I took of ce, I promised you that I would seek to unite the Lebanese and end political division... But unfortunately, this pushed Iran and its allies to more interference in our internal affairs,” he said.
In Beirut’s Tarik al-Jadideh neighborhood, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood supportive of Hariri, residents described the shock resignation as a positive step.
“Prime Minister Hariri has reached the stage where he is not able anymore to bear the pressure on Lebanon by Arab nations, due to the intervention of Iran,” said Mohyeddine Awwad, sitting in a cafe where posters of Hariri hung.
Earlier this week, Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan sharply criticized Hezbollah, calling for its “toppling” and promising “astonishing developments” in the coming days during an interview with the Lebanese TV station MTV.
Al-Sabhan met with Hariri in Saudi Arabia when the now resigned prime minister was visiting earlier this week. Hariri abruptly returned to the kingdom again on Friday after a meeting in Beirut with Ali-Akbar Velayati, foreign adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
In tweets after meeting Hariri, al-Sabhan criticized the Lebanese government for tolerating Hezbollah’s