Saudi Arabia, allies meet in Cairo to discuss Iran, Hezbollah

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Arab allies scheduled an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday to discuss ways to combat Iranian interference in their internal affairs, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The meeting was called on the request of Saudi Arabia, the news agency said.

Political tensions in the region escalated earlier this month when Lebanese prime minister Saad Al Hariri resigned from his post in an announcement made from Riyadh. Hariri blamed Iran and its ally Hezbollah for his decision, accusing them of fueling discord in the region. He also cited fear of assassination.

Following the resignation, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain asked their citizens to leave Lebanon “immediately.”

Lebanon’s foreign minister, meanwhile, was still in Beirut and was unlikely to attend, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source in the ministry. Beirut will be represented by its representative to the Arab League, Antoine Azzam, the source added.

Speaking from Riyadh in a live TV broadcast last week, Hariri urged Lebanon to stay out of the spat between other Arab nations and Iran.

“Iran has a number of conflicts with other Arab nations, which are much larger than us,” he said. “Why do we stand in between these conflicts? We have much bigger issues to handle.”