The Arab world is finding its voice, and it is speaking directly against Tehran.
The diplomatic backdrop tells its own story © Mena Today
The Arab world is finding its voice, and it is speaking directly against Tehran.
One day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun delivered a stinging rebuke of Iran, accusing the Islamic Republic of using Lebanon as a "bargaining chip" in its standoff with Washington, Bahrain stepped forward Saturday with an unambiguous message of solidarity.
Manama's foreign ministry declared its "firm and unwavering support" for Lebanon's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, flatly rejecting "any foreign interference in its internal affairs" and refusing to allow Lebanon to be "instrumentalised in regional conflicts." The target of those words was not named, it didn't need to be.
Bahrain also threw its weight behind President Aoun's push to extend state authority across all Lebanese territory and restore the state's monopoly on weapons, a direct challenge to Hezbollah's parallel armed structure, which has dragged Lebanon into a war its people never chose.
A Ceasefire on Paper, War on the Ground
The diplomatic backdrop tells its own story. Israel and Lebanon agreed Wednesday in Washington on a ceasefire framework and the creation of "pilot zones" under Lebanese army control.
Yet southern Lebanon remains under Israeli fire, with over 600 square kilometres still occupied. Since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the regional war alongside Iran following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Israeli strikes have killed more than 3,550 people in Lebanon.
The message from Bahrain is clear: Lebanon deserves peace, sovereignty and freedom from Iranian manipulation. The question is whether Tehran is listening, and whether it cares.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold an urgent, high-level meeting under a joint defence pact to discuss ways to support the kingdom amid attacks by Yemen's Houthis, while Saudi's top religious authority told troops to be ready to lay down their lives to fight their Iran-aligned enemy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mounted a forceful defense of Israel's actions in the region at the UN on Thursday, seeking to counter growing international isolation ahead of elections he could lose, as dozens of delegates streamed out.
Iranian flights to Gulf neighbours including travel hub Dubai appeared to have been cancelled on Thursday after a US deadline passed for global firms to halt work with Iran's airlines, a major step in a campaign President Donald Trump calls "economic D-Day".
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