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.
Naim Qassem took to the podium Friday for the Ashura commemorations and delivered precisely the speech the world expected, word for word, beat for beat, with all the spontaneity of a hostage reading from a script prepared in Tehran.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry on Friday welcomed the joint declaration issued Thursday following the ministerial meeting between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the United States, describing it as a significant endorsement of Beirut's sovereign diplomatic path.
Israel's former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who lost a son in Gaza and boasts of his "Dahiyeh doctrine" of smashing foes with disproportionate force, is surging in polls and could oust Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister in a coming election.
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