Arabs consider Hezbollah a terror group

Arab foreign ministers gathered at the League’s headquarters in Cairo Sunday for an emergency meeting called by Saudi Arabia. Lebanon’s foreign minister, Gibran Bassil, did not attend, and the Lebanese representative at the meeting expressed reservations over the final communique.

A final communique, issued following an emergency meeting of Arab officials, refers to Iran-allied Lebanese Hezbollah group as a terrorist organisation.

The Lebanese delegation at the meeting voiced reservations over this reference, head of the Arab League Ahmad Abul Gheit said at a press conference at the end of the meeting in Cairo.

This latest flare up between Saudi Arabia and Iran was sparked by a November 4 incident in which Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh’s international airport. Saudi Arabia subsequently accused Hezbollah and Iran as being behind the attack. Both have denied any involvement in the incident. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been rocky since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Saudi Arabia subsequently expressed its anger at Hezbollah, which maintains close ties with Iran. Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan has warned the Lebanese they must choose “either peace, or to live within the political fold of Hezbollah.”