Saudi Arabia Orders Citizens Out of Lebanon
Decision escalates crisis in country caught between regional rivals Riyadh and Tehran
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—The Saudi government on Thursday ordered its citizens to immediately leave Lebanon, escalating a regional crisis in a country that has long been a battleground in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“In the light of the current situation in Lebanon, the kingdom asks its citizens living or visiting Lebanon to leave as soon as possible,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement it posted on its Twitter account.
The warning comes less than a week after Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, left Lebanon for Saudi Arabia, where he resigned from his post, citing the destructive role in the region of Iran and its Lebanese proxy, the Shiite political and militant group Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia is a longtime patron of Mr. Hariri, who leads Lebanon’s main Sunni bloc. Saudi Arabia’s aggressive posturing deepens the political uncertainty in the tiny Middle Eastern country, which is already strained by sectarian tensions.
Saudi Arabia considers Hezbollah, the dominant political force in Lebanon, a terrorist organization. It has grown increasingly alarmed by the group’s ascendance in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region.