‘Hariri Had No Plan for Resignation When Meeting Iran Envoy’

Hossein Sheikholeslam, a senior advisor to Iran’s foreign minister, says the rude and unwise statements made by Hariri immediately after the announcement of his resignation were in line with the same policy to create tension in order to undermine the internal stability of Lebanon.

“Saad Hariri’s resignation on Saturday attracted the attention of all regional and international media. Hariri announced his resignation not in Lebanon, but in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and in a televised speech he spoke out against Iran’s policies in the Middle East. Hariri could at least maintain the historical dignity of the great Lebanese people to announce his resignation on his own land since the announcement of resignation in Saudi Arabia is a very humiliating act.”

In a Farsi piece published in Hamshahri newspaper, Sheikholeslam said that, in practice, the young Hariri showed he has not inherited any wisdom and rationality from his father, Rafic Hariri.

“The current situation in our region shows the policy of the United States and its regional allies, including Mohammed bin Salman, to create tension and instability in the regional countries has failed, and now they are trying to create tension in other ways.”

Sheikholeslam also noted that Hariri’s Saturday move was, in fact, part of this new plan, and on this basis, it can be said that Hariri has sacrificed the interests and security of the Lebanese people for Trump’s plots.

“Undoubtedly, the top priority of the US foreign policy in the Middle East is to create insecurity and chaos to milk the regional states and sell its weapons to the wealthy countries so as to accomplish economic goals inside the United States.”

“From this perspective, the establishment and maintenance of regional stability, which is the goal of the peoples and popular governments in the region, is being assessed as contrary to the US strategies. On the other hand, and in addition to all these facts, there are several indications that Saad Hariri’s resignation has been dictated to him,” he went on to say.

This Iranian advisor also pointed out that if Hariri was prepared for such a decision and also his anti-Iran positions, basically there would be no reason for him to hold a meeting with Iran’s Velayati in Beirut.