Saudi Arabia seeks to destroy Lebanon: Hezbollah’s religious council head

The head of the religious council of Hezbollah resistance movement has blasted Saudi Arabia for trying to stoke instability in Lebanon amid a weeks-long diplomatic dispute between the latter and several Persian Gulf Arab countries over the Saudi-led coalition’s war in Yemen.

“It is necessary for us to stand united as Lebanese so that our country remains dignified in the face of all those who are complicit in US-Israeli plots and have evil intentions for Lebanon,” Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek said at a ceremony in the southern Lebanese town of Faysan on Wednesday.

He added, “They were conspiring against us when we were all seeking to form a government after several months. They used to accuse us of obstructing government formation. Once the government was formed [back in September], everyone knew that Saudis were not satisfied with it.”

Sheikh Yazbek highlighted that the Riyadh regime does not want a strong Lebanon, and is seeking to destroy the country.

“We tell them that Lebanon’s strength lies in its resistance movement, its army and people. We will safeguard this country, and will not accept the theft of our national wealth…,” the senior Hezbollah official pointed out.

Saudi Arabia’s main objective is to weaken resistance, subjugate Lebanon: Top Hezbollah official

A senior Hezbollah official says the main purpose of Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic dispute with Lebanon is to weaken the resistance movement and subjugate Lebanon to the Riyadh regime’s demands.

“Our unity is the key to our pride and strength. We work for this country and its sovereignty. We are more dedicated to Lebanon than all those who claim to be advocates of freedom and sovereignty,” Sheikh Yazbek said.

Earlier this month, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to provoke civil war in Lebanon, saying Riyadh pretends to be friends with the Lebanese people and government while pushing its allies to stand against the popular group in the country.

Tensions rose between Riyadh and Beirut following critical comments made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi in an interview regarding the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

During the interview, aired by an online show affiliated with Qatar’s al-Jazeera television network, Kordahi called the Saudi-led Yemen war "futile," and said that Yemeni army forces and their allied fighters from Popular Committees are defending themselves.

Amid Beirut-Riyadh rift, senior Hezbollah official urges Saudi Arabia to stop interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem says Lebanon wants Saudi Arabia to stop meddling in the country’s internal affairs.

The interview was recorded before Kordahi was appointed as minister, but it aired on October 25.

The Lebanese minister’s remarks infuriated Riyadh and prompted it to expel Lebanon’s ambassador and ban all imports from the Mediterranean country.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.

Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s continuous bombardment of the impoverished country, Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

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