Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Lebanon’s Hezbollah Leader Criticizes Saudi Arabia, Deepening Rift

Lebanon’s Hezbollah Leader Criticizes Saudi Arabia, Deepening Rift

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia verbally attacked Saudi Arabia in a Monday evening speech, accusing the Gulf kingdom of helping spread Islamic extremism around the globe and holding Lebanon “hostage.” Analysts say that Hezbollah’s sparring with Saudi Arabia deprives Lebanon of needed financial help.
Iran-backed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah launched a broadside against the Saudi king in televised remarks. “Your highness the king, the terrorist is (the side) who exported Daesh ideology to the world and they are you,” Nasrallah said, referring to the Islamic State group, as known by its Arabic name. He also accused Saudi Arabia of sending Saudi suicide attackers to Syria and Iraq as well as for the war in Yemen.

Last week, Saudi King Salman urged the Lebanese to end what he called “the terrorist Hezbollah’s control” of Lebanon. Many Lebanese had hoped that the resignation of their former information minister would have ended the war of words between the two sides, but Nasrallah opened old wounds.

Habib Malik, history professor at the Lebanese American University, points to Shi’ite Hezbollah’s alleged attempts to proliferate drugs in the Gulf through fake fruit exports. He told VOA that Hezbollah also sends “regular trainers, weapons and personnel to Yemen to help the Houthi [rebels] against the Saudis” and it does Iran’s bidding in Lebanon.

“Nasrallah said that it’s Saudi Arabia that has been behind Sunni radicalism and Daesh, especially in Iraq. I’m not whitewashing the Saudi record either. There is some truth in that. But one form of violation doesn’t justify the other. This recurring attack on the Gulf and Saudi Arabia shows that Hezbollah could care less about the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese working in the Gulf who could easily be adversely affected by this kind of rhetoric, Malik said.

He also noted that “Hezbollah doesn’t care about Lebanon or its interests. Hezbollah is simply carrying out the instructions and directives of an alien foreign country whose aim is to expand at any cost in the region.”

Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, criticized Nasrallah, saying, “It is not in Lebanon's interest to offend any Arab country, especially the Gulf states.”

Arab Gulf states have generously helped cash-strapped Lebanon in the past. Critics blame Hezbollah for damaging ties with the Gulf, which has stopped financial assistance due to Iran’s meddling in Lebanon’s affairs.

Over the past two years, Lebanon has experienced economic, political, fuel, power and social crises described by the World Bank as “the most severe in the world.” The Lebanese currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value and four out five Lebanese now live under the United Nations poverty threshold.

Political observer Baria Alamuddin, writing in the Saudi Arab News newspaper, attributes Lebanon’s worsening situation in part to Iran and Hezbollah, which, over the past 16 years, has wielded enormous influence. “Hezbollah dominates the state” she recently wrote, “but exists outside the principles and values of the state and undermines the state’s sovereignty and legitimacy.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
×