• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Citing Threats to His Life, Lebanese PM Hariri Resigns

Staff Writer with AFP by Staff Writer with AFP
11/04/17
in Featured, Middle East
Saad Hariri Hezbollah Iran

Saad Hariri speaks to journalists following his nomination as Lebanese prime minister on November 3, 2016. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Citing Iran’s “grip” on the country and threats to his life, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a critic of Shiite group Hezbollah, offered his resignation on Saturday, 12 years after his father was assassinated by allegedly Hezbollah militants.

“I announce my resignation from the post of prime minister,” he said in a speech broadcast from Saudi Arabia by the Al-Arabiya news network. “I felt what was being covertly plotted to target my life,” Mr. Hariri said.

The two-time prime minister, whose father Rafik held the same position for years and was assassinated in 2005, accused Iran and its powerful Lebanese Shiite ally Hezbollah of seeking hegemony in the region.

The 47-year-old Sunni politician’s resignation comes less than a year after his government, to which Hezbollah’s political wing belongs, was formed.

“Iran has a grip on the fate of the region’s countries… Hezbollah is Iran’s arm not just in Lebanon but in other Arab countries too,” he said. “In recent years, Hezbollah has used the power of its weapons to impose a fait accompli,” he said, reading a speech from behind a desk.

Mr. Hariri accused Tehran of “sowing discord among the children of the same nation and creating a state within the state… to the extent that it gets the final say on how Lebanon’s affairs are run.”

Hezbollah is a vital ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the war the Syrian regime is waging against the Islamic State group and armed opposition movements. It enjoys broad support from Iran and is the only Lebanese party to have kept its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war.

Its arsenal has since grown exponentially and now outstrips that of the nation’s own armed forces.

Impact of Resignation

Hezbollah claims it is the only credible rampart against neighboring Israel and its refusal to disarm is the main political crux in Lebanon. Hezbollah members have been accused of the 2005 assassination in a massive car bomb blast of Rafik Hariri, the dominant figure of Lebanon’s post-war political landscape.

He made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, where his son Saad was born. Riyadh is Iran’s main regional rival and the two powers’ tussle for influence has played out in ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

The office of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a veteran Christian leader allied to Hezbollah, issued a statement confirming Mr. Hariri had tendered his resignation. “President Aoun is waiting for Hariri’s return to Beirut to inquire about the circumstances of his decision and decide on the next steps,” a statement said.

Mr. Hariri said in his speech that the political climate in Lebanon was reminiscent of that which prevailed before his father was killed. The February 2005 assassination triggered political upheaval that led to Syria’s military withdrawal from Lebanon.

Walid Jumblatt, one of Lebanon’s political heavyweights and the country’s most prominent Druze leader, said Mr. Hariri’s resignation could adversely affect a country already under huge strain. He argued it was the latest manifestation of the tug-of-war between Saudi Arabia and Iran and called for intensifying diplomatic efforts to solve the feud.

“Lebanon is too small and vulnerable to bear the economic and political burden that comes with this resignation,” he said on social media. “I will continue to call for dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”

Share3Tweet
Staff Writer with AFP

Staff Writer with AFP

Related Posts

Rescuers sift through the rubble at the scene of an Israeli strike that targets Beirut's southern suburbs
National

Ceasefire Begins in Israel-Hezbollah War

by Staff Writer with AFP
November 26, 2024
Iranian flag
National

US Not Expecting Policy Change From Iran Under New President

by Staff Writer with AFP
July 9, 2024
Iran street
Middle East

Raisi’s Death Unlikely to Change Iran Foreign Policy: Analysts

by Staff Writer with AFP
May 21, 2024
Mahsa Amini protests
Democracy at Risk

Over 90 Reporters Questioned or Arrested in Iran Since Protests: Media

by Staff Writer
August 8, 2023
Mahsa Amini protests
World

G7 Nations Denounce ‘Brutal’ Iran Protest Crackdown

by Staff Writer
November 4, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests
Opinion

Imagining a Free Iran

by Stephen J. Lyons
October 24, 2022
Next Post
WhatsApp Telegram Afghanistan

Afghanistan Suspends WhatsApp and Telegram, Sparks Outcry

Eight Circassian men

Circassians of Syria: The Third Migration

Recommended

Ursula von der Leyen

EU Ministers Weigh Response to Latest Trump Tariff Threat

July 14, 2025
UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese

UN Says US Sanctions on Expert Sets ‘Dangerous Precedent,’ Must Be Reversed

July 11, 2025
Women in Afghanistan wearing a blue burqa

ICC Seeks Arrest of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

July 9, 2025
Kenya, Nairobi, 2024-07-16. Protesters in the streets

Nairobi Tense as Kenya Marks Democracy Uprising

July 7, 2025
President Donald Trump

Trump Wins ‘Phenomenal’ Victory as Congress Passes Flagship Bill

July 4, 2025
University students march in protest towards the Istanbul Municipality in Sarachane as they demonstrate against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 21, 2025.

‘Remember Charlie Hebdo!’ Protesters Seethe at Istanbul Magazine

July 2, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post