Lebanese President Michel Aoun intensified the crisis sparked by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s surprise resignation by directly and unambiguously accusing Saudi Arabia of taking him prisoner in an “act of aggression against Lebanon.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has denied reports that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was presented with an ultimatum by Saudi Arabia to accept a peace deal outlined by the Trump administration or to resign from his position.
The latest wrinkle in Lebanon’s political crisis is a meeting on Tuesday between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Maronite Christian patriarch of Lebanon, Bechara Boutros al-Rahi.
Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday that reports of an unpleasant meeting with former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri before the latter’s surprise resignation are untrue, and Iran wants Hariri back as prime minister.
Contrary to much speculation, Saudi officials stated on Sunday that King Salman bin Abdulaziz has no intention of abdicating to pass the throne along to his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Sunday that he is a “free man” and will return to his country “within days.”
Maronite Christian Patriarch of Lebanon Bechara Boutros al-Rahi has made an unprecedented visit to Saudi Arabia, known as the only country in the world without a church building.
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned suddenly while in Saudi Arabia last week, gave an interview on Lebanese television in which he sought to dispel rumors he was forced to resign by the Saudis and promised he would return to Lebanon soon.
TEL AVIV – Saudi Arabia told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he must either accept a proposal being drafted by the Trump administration aimed at reaching a final status solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or resign, Israel’s Channel 10 reported.
TEL AVIV – During Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ surprise summons to Saudi Arabia last week, the PA’s official daily published anti-Iran articles claiming the Islamic Republic was spreading its “tentacles” by appropriating the Palestinian cause as part of its ongoing attempts at regional hegemony.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has made the world a bold promise: under his watch, Riyadh will enter the 21st century.
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia said Monday that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen will begin reopening airports and seaports in the Arab world’s poorest country, days after closing them over a rebel ballistic missile attack on Riyadh.
Leader of the Lebanese, Shi’ite terror organization Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that while he thought an armed conflict with Israel was “unlikely” to take place in the near future, the Jewish state had better be careful and stay out of the current political crisis Lebanon has been mired in over the past several weeks.
The Saudi-led coalition carried out two air strikes on the defense ministry in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sana’a late Friday, witnesses and rebel media said, without reporting casualties.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised speech on Friday in which he accused Saudi Arabia of prodding Israel to attack Lebanon. In fact, he claimed the Saudis have essentially hired the Israelis as mercenaries to help them take out Iran’s Lebanese proxy army.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in a CNBC interview on Thursday that Iran should face sanctions for its support of terrorism. He dismissed the nuclear deal struck with Iran by the Obama administration as too “weak” to restrain Tehran’s ambitions.
Contents: All Saudis ordered to leave Lebanon, as Hariri’s fate is unknown; Saudi Arabia blockades Yemen, threatening millions to die in famine
Saudi Arabia on Thursday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon “immediately” and to avoid traveling to the country. “The kingdom advised all citizens not to travel to Lebanon from any other international destinations,” said the statement reported by Al-Arabiya.
TEL AVIV — Saudi officials who were arrested in recent days in a corruption crackdown are expected to receive prison sentences of 3-10 years, Saudi news outlet Al Watan has reported.
BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia on Thursday ordered its citizens out of Lebanon in its first concrete action against the Mediterranean country, while officials in Beirut demanded the immediate return of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who abruptly announced his resignation last week in a television appearance from the kingdom, where he has been holed up since.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced a new round of strikes in Yemen on Wednesday, as Saudi Arabia invoked its right of self-defense against a weekend missile attack it blamed on Iran acting through proxy forces.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry asked all Saudi citizens visiting and living in Lebanon leave the country as soon as possible on Thursday, additionally advising Saudi nationals not to travel to Lebanon from other countries.
The United States has joined Saudi Arabia in accusing Iran of arming the Houthi insurgents in Yemen with advanced weapons, such as the missile fired at the Saudi capital over the weekend. The White House condemned Iran’s actions as “blatant violations of international law.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s crackdown on corruption in Saudi Arabia has reportedly continued on Wednesday with further arrests – and some $800 billion in combined assets on the line.
The State Department offered support for Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s ongoing crackdown on huge swaths of the Saudi Arabian power structure Tuesday, echoing, albeit less wholeheartedly, endorsements by the White House.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton reflected on foreign policy during the first year of the Trump administration on Wednesday’s Breitbart News Daily with SiriusXM host Alex Marlow.
Aides to the former Sunni Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad al-Hariri, who recently announced his resignation via a broadcast from Saudi Arabia, have reportedly denied claims disseminated by a pro-Shiite Hezbollah newspaper that the Sunni kingdom is holding the influential politician under house arrest.
TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani warned Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that it will achieve nothing by threatening the might of Iran, as a war of words between the regional heavyweights intensifies.
A number of the Saudi royals and top officials arrested for corruption over the weekend have reportedly been detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, leading to an uncomfortable statement from the hotel’s owner and fueling outside interest in exactly what is going on in the kingdom.
President Trump tweeted enthusiastic support of Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince on Tuesday morning, while most of the Washington foreign policy establishment was still mulling over its response to the dramatic events in Riyadh.
TEL AVIV – Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have made comments over the last day accusing both Iran and Lebanon of “acts of war” on Riyadh.
CAIRO – Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ruled out a constitutional amendment to extend his term, saying an election would be held next year and he will not run again in 2022, in an interview with CNBC Monday.
Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan of Saudi Arabia said in a television interview on Sunday that he has “confirmed information” of a plot to murder Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who resigned on Saturday.
The Trump administration should take the stirring reforms being implemented in Saudi Arabia by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) with a grain of salt because the effort could backfire and end up empowering Islamic hard-liners, warns the director of the threat information office at the Center for Security Policy (CSP).
Saudi Arabia on Monday declared that the missile fired from Yemen at Riyadh over the weekend was a “blatant act of military aggression” by Iran, acting through its Yemeni proxies, the Houthi insurgents. The Saudi-led military coalition that has been attempting to restore the internationally-recognized government of Yemen announced that it would temporarily close all land, air, and sea routes into Yemen to prevent further weapons smuggling.
Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon analyzed the dramatic weekend events in Saudi Arabia on Monday’s edition of Breitbart News Daily on the SiriusXM Patriot Channel.
RIYADH (Reuters) – A campaign of mass arrests of Saudi Arabian royals, ministers and businessmen expanded on Monday after a top entrepreneur was reportedly detained in the biggest anti-corruption purge of the kingdom’s affluent elite in its modern history.
Saudi Arabia over the weekend saw the upheaval of leading government officials and business figures, as well as increased tension with the kingdom’s rival Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Iran traded fierce accusations over Yemen on Monday, with Riyadh saying a rebel missile attack “may amount to an act of war” and Tehran accusing its rival of war crimes.
TEL AVIV — Prominent social media users in the Gulf have been posting extensively regarding developments in the Saudi royal family after the arrest of dozens of officials in the country, including 11 princes from the royal family, as part of an ongoing fight against corruption.
