From the pomegranate crisis to the dismissal of the ambassador; What does Saudi Arabia want from Lebanon?
In its latest provocative move, Saudi Arabia expelled the Lebanese ambassador from Riyadh and called on its ambassador to Beirut to discuss, in his own words, further measures to achieve the goals.
Saudi Arabia has used the recent remarks of Lebanese Information Minister George Qardahi as an excuse to escalate tensions with Lebanon; Prior to his appointment, Qardahi called the attack on Yemen futile. Riyadh has also used Lebanese refusal to surrender to two Saudi wanted men, accusing Lebanese officials of ignoring the facts and insisting on making wrong decisions.
The official Saudi news agency quoted an official government statement as saying that Riyadh intends to suspend imports of all goods from Lebanon and prevent its ambassador from returning to Beirut.
Looking at the current political climate, it can be seen that the escalating trend of the Qardahi affair has become questionable and is in fact a public manifestation of a very deep and complex crisis. Qardahi’s recent stance is neither strange nor new nor unique; Because before him, the UN Secretary General had called the Saudi invasion of Yemen in vain.
Saudi Arabia had taken several other steps before deciding to escalate tensions with Lebanon, including the inclusion of Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Qarz al-Hassan Financial Institution as a terrorist group. However, the work of this institute is to help the Lebanese people in the face of living crises and the country’s poor economic situation in the shadow of US sanctions. Hezbollah condemned the move, calling it an “invasion of Lebanon” and an “open interference in the country’s internal affairs.”
Another crisis that Saudi Arabia has created in its relations with Lebanon is called the “Pomegranate Crisis”. Saudi Arabia has closed its borders to Lebanese agricultural products under the pretext of discovering a shipment of pomegranates containing smuggled Captagon psychedelics. This is while Lebanon has no pomegranate to export at all, but this consignment was smuggled from outside Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia’s goal in attacking Lebanon is, in fact, to attack the resistance and upset the balance of power in that country. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly tried to destabilize the internal situation in Lebanon, but it has failed. Therefore, in order to compensate for these successive failures, this time he used Qardahi’s statements as a pretext and pressured the Prime Minister and his other allies in Lebanon to overthrow the Lebanese government, and on the other hand, on the scandals of Samir Geagea. , Who is the first-degree defendant in the murder of al-Taywaneh, should cover up.
Saudi Arabia is also trying to impose its political plans on the Lebanese by completely suffocating Lebanon after all these defeats, in line with the plans of the United States and the Zionist regime, and to force the country to surrender to the American, Israeli and Saudi coalition.
