The Arab parliament designated the Lebanese party Hezbollah as a terror group Sunday and condemned Iranian violations in the Arab countries’ internal affairs.
Arab Parliament speaker Ahmed Al-Garwan told an Egyptian TV channel that the parliament decided to support an end to “Iran’s activities” in some Arab countries.
Al-Garwan added that more measures are required to ensure the safety Arab countries, amid the current challenges facing them.
The Arab League similarly designated Hezbollah as a terror group last month. Both Lebanon and Iraq rejected the decision at the time.
This was preceded by a similar decision in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). GCC secretary-general Abdel Latif Al Zayani said the decision was taken due to “the provocative acts of that militia to recruit young people from GCC to carry out terror acts”.
The GCC’s decision came one day after Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah’s outspoken declarations about “Saudi Arabia’s attempts to incite sectarian strife between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims in the Arab world”.
Last month, Saudi Arabia cut its $3bn military aid to the Lebanese army.
The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah comes in the context of a broader conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which escalated due to the execution of prominent Shi’a cleric Nimr Al-Nimr last year. Nasrallah said that the Saudi decision to cut aid will force Lebanon to enter a new phase in the conflict.
