Hariri quit after Iran rejected Saudi request on Yemen: Informed source

Yamanyoon- 5 Nov 2017

Saad al-Hariri resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister after Iran turned down a request by Riyadh to stop supporting the oppressed Yemeni nation in the face of a deadly Saudi war, an informed Iranian source says.

The source close to Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, made the revelation to the Fars news agency on Sunday.

After a trip to Saudi Arabia, Hariri returned to Beirut to meet with Velayati and convey the kingdom’s “dictated” appeal to Iran regarding the Yemen conflict.

Hariri was hopeful that he could discourage the Islamic Republic from its opposition to the Saudi crimes in Yemen, but he received Iran’s negative response, the source said.

During the meeting with Hariri, Velayati said that the Saudis should halt their bombing campaign as well as economic and medical blockade on Yemen in order pave the way for dialogue with the impoverished nation.

“The inappropriate request by Hariri and the Saudis was that the Islamic Republic of Iran abandon backing the right side [in the Yemen crisis], but because they were disappointed, Saad Hariri was immediately summoned to Riyadh to declare his resignation outside the Lebanese territory,” the source added.

“It is clear that the text of [Hariri’s resignation] was dictated by the Saudi side to the resigned Lebanese prime minister,” he pointed out.

During the Beirut meeting, Velayati hailed Hariri’s coalition government with the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah as “a victory” and “great success”.

Hariri told the Italian daily La Repubblica last month that he and Hezbollah had “put aside” their differences to serve Lebanon.

Hariri, a long-time Saudi ally, quit his post on Saturday in a televised speech from Saudi Arabia. He claimed that he feared the same fate as his assassinated father and accused Iran and Hezbollah of meddling in Arab countries’ affairs.