Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister denies diplomatic “crisis” with Lebanon

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia denied that the country is experiencing a diplomatic crisis with Lebanon, but said that the country believes that any current contacts with Beirut are “not effective or useful.”

Saudi Arabia ordered the Lebanese ambassador to leave the country after the Lebanese minister made “insulting” remarks.

“I don’t think I would call it a crisis,” Prince Faisal bin Falhan Al Saud told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Rome, Italy on Saturday, but he said that the Lebanese minister’s comments— -It mentioned the role of Saudi Arabia in the current situation. The civil war in Yemen-shows that the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah is becoming more and more dominant in Lebanese politics.

“I think we have come to the conclusion that dealing with Lebanon and its current government has not been effective, nor does it help Hezbollah continue to dominate the political arena, and we believe that the current government and Lebanese political leaders are still ineffective. I am willing to carry out the necessary reforms and take the necessary actions to push Lebanon in the direction of real change,” Prince Faisal said.

“We have decided that I think the participation at this time is not effective or useful. And it is not in our interest.”

Lebanese Information Minister George Kodashi delivered a speech In an interview, he mentioned the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen and called the war “futility.” He also seems to imply that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the aggressors in the conflict.

The ongoing civil war in Yemen has lasted for seven years, and Saudi-led forces (supporting the Yemeni government) have competed with Iran-backed Houthi rebels for control of the country.

In response, Saudi Arabia ordered the Lebanese ambassador to leave within 48 hours on Friday and recalled its ambassador from Lebanon. Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE have also taken similar actions to support Saudi Arabia.

The Lebanese government tried to quell the diplomatic crisis. According to reports, Kodashi’s remarks (issued before he became a minister) did not reflect his position. The pressure on ministers to resign is also increasing. For his part, Kordahi stated that he had no intention of offending Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

Prince Faisal told CNBC that the Lebanese minister’s comments were “a sign of reality. The political scene in Lebanon continues to be dominated by Hezbollah. This is a terrorist organization. By the way, the organization provides weapons, supplies, and trains the Houthi militia. “

“So for us, this is not just a minister’s comment, it is more like a sign of the state of Lebanon.”

According to the World Bank, Lebanon’s current economic crisis is one of the worst in modern history. Over the years, its government has failed to implement political and economic reforms to manage its heavy debts, clean up the banking industry, and solve the deep-rooted corruption problem of the political elite.

Lebanon has 18 different religious communities. Because of this, its unique but widely criticized consensus government relies on a power-sharing structure. The Prime Minister, the President, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives must each come from the country’s three major religious groups: Sunnis, Maronite Christians, and Shiites.

Lebanese citizens and regional experts say that this setting promotes and often encourages foreign forces to engage in corruption, corruption and interference through these various sectarian groups.

The Yemen war is often seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are strong enemies in the Middle East.

For many years, Sunni and Shiite Muslim forces have supported opposing parties in regional conflicts and political disputes in Syria, Lebanon and other places. They severed diplomatic relations in 2016.

But Saudi Arabia and Iran started negotiations in April to try to resolve long-standing problems.

Riyadh confirmed earlier this month that it negotiated directly with Iran’s new government in September, shortly after the election to marry and contact Ebrahim Raisi on the back.

Prince Faisal later stated that the talks between Riyadh and Tehran were “kind”. According to the Financial Times, Describing the negotiation as “exploratory.”

In an interview with CNBC on Saturday, Prince Faisal confirmed that negotiations are still going on, but no substantial progress has been made so far.

“We are discussing. Our kingdom is committed to finding ways to reach an understanding with Iran to resolve regional security and instability. We can all focus on building a prosperous future for our people. So far, these talks have been essentially Is exploratory. We have gone through four rounds [of discussions] So far. We may have another round. We are solving this problem. We have not really made any decisive progress. But I will say that they are already active enough to discuss further, but there is no specific content yet.

His comments in Rome reflect the latest signs that the cold relationship between rivals in these two regions may begin to thaw. Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdorahian said at a press conference on October 7 that negotiations on how to improve diplomatic relations have “made great progress.”Iran last week Resumption of exports to Saudi Arabia This is the first time since competitors stopped bilateral trade last year.

It was announced last week that global powers will resume negotiations with Iran The aim is to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia reflected Western countries’ concerns that Iran must abide by its Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (or JCPOA, essentially the 2015 nuclear agreement) regarding the containment of the country’s nuclear activities and allowing Iran to do so. Commitment to inspect. International Atomic Energy Agency.

“It is vital for us to resolve Iran’s ongoing nuclear activities. We see Iran continue to fulfill its obligations, not only to the JCPOA, but even to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. [a treaty aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons]. And I think it’s also important that you solve the IAEA inaccessible problem. These are real threats to regional security and regional stability,” he said.

Prince Faisal delivered a speech during the G20 summit in Rome. At the two-day weekend meeting, political leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies will hold their first face-to-face meeting in two years.

—CNBC’s Natasha Turak contributed to this article.