After Qatar’s virtual blockade by Saudi Arabia and allies, it now seems the next in line is Lebanon. AP has reported that Saudi Arabia has asked its citizens to evacuate Lebanon immediately.
The Latest: Saudi Arabia orders its citizens out of Lebanon amid skyrocketing tensions between their two governments. https://t.co/LA9dWZONCn
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 9, 2017
Tensions have been simmering between the two countries after the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who announced his departure while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
In a rapidly escalating situation, Lebanon is accusing Saudis of Kidnapping its PM
Exclusive: Lebanon believes Hariri held in Saudi, wants foreign pressure – top officials https://t.co/DiW8hEPBRC
— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) November 9, 2017
The Shia-Sunni fault lines, now defined as the Iran-Saudi Arabia rivalry is now entering a dangerous phase. With Iran having almost won the conflicts in Iraq-Syria and having an upper hand in Yemen, things are not going nice for Saudi influence in the region.
Its effort to force Qatar to pick its side, has only forced the Qatari in arms of Tehran and Istanbul. Its military adventure in Yemen remain a misadventure. Last week’s purge has seen Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman become the most powerful ruler of Saudi Arabia – ever. With all his domestic enemies defeated, it can only be expected that he will put all his resources to win the race against Tehran.
This is expected to further destabilize the region, resulting in higher oil prices, ironically, which in turn would make Iran even more powerful. May be its time for a immediate visit of US’Secretary of State to the region and calm some nerves. Only the reassurance of US military might is going to pacify the region back to stability.
