Lebanon Plunges Into Crisis After Premier Resigns, Fearing Assassination Plot
In his resignation speech, Hariri – whose farther, former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was assassinated in 2005 – fired a vicious tirade against Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah group for what he said was their meddling in Arab affairs and said that “Iran’s arms in the region will be cut off.” Accusing Iran of sowing “fear, chaos, strife and destruction” throughout the region, including Lebanon, Hariri said that “the evil that Iran spreads in the region will backfire on it.”
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 Rafik Hariri, was assassinated in 2005.
That said, Hariri may have had an ulterior motive for his fire and brimstone speech: Hariri – whose family is very close to Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional competitor – was appointed prime minister in late 2016 and headed a 30-member coalition government that included members of the Shiite militant Hezbollah. But it’s been an uneasy partnership between Hariri, who heads a Sunni-led camp loyal to Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah, which represents a camp loyal to Shiite Iran. President Michel Aoun, who was elected in October 2016 after more than a two-year presidential vacuum, is a close ally of Hezbollah.
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