The mysterious sudden resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister has sparked a political crisis that is escalating longstanding tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran — and raises the real prospect of open warfare between the two Middle Eastern powers.
The intrigue began on November 4, when Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri suddenly announced his resignation — but he did it by reading a statement on live television from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. That immediately fueled speculation in Lebanon that the Saudi government, which has deep, longstanding ties to Hariri, had forced him to resign against his will and was holding him under house arrest.
In his resignation speech, Hariri explained he was stepping down because rising Iranian influence in his country had made him fearful he would suffer the same fate as his father, Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated by a car bomb in 2005 by agents believed to be affiliated with the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Hariri is still in Saudi Arabia, and Lebanese officials are demanding his return. At the same time, rumors swirl that Saudi leadership hopes to replace Hariri with his brother, Bahaa. But on Sunday, in his first interview since his resignation, Saad Hariri spoke from his home in Riyadh to say that he was “free” to move about the country and that he would return to Lebanon “very soon.”