EXPLAINER Why Saudi Arabia is upset lashing out at Lebanon

BEIRUT — A televised remark by a game demo host turned Cabinet minister in Lebanon about the war in Yemen has taken the country’s crisis with Saudi Arabia to new depths. Anger over George Kordahi’s comments led to steps by Gulf Arab countries that further isolate Lebanon and threaten to split its new coalition government, tasked with halting the country’s economic meltdown. Punitive measures from Saudi Arabia, once an important ally that poured millions of dollars into Lebanon, could cause more economic pain. The kingdom has banned all Lebanese imports, a major blow to a country whose main trading partners are in the Persian Gulf. It is the latest escalation in the rivalry that has long played out in Lebanon between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Tensions have dragged on for years over the dominant role in Lebanon of the Iranian-backed militant Hezbollah group. Now Saudi officials insist it is pointless to deal with the government in Beirut after so much drift toward Iran. But what is really behind Saudi’s angry response, and what does it mean for the already embattled Lebanon? The immediate spark were comments by Kordahi, who had gained popularity in the Arab world for hosting “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” on a Saudi-owned TV network. During a mock parliament streamed online last week, Kordahi fielded questions from an audience of young people from the part. In one answer, he called the war in Yemen “absurd” and said the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked no one and have the right to defend themselves. The online computer programme was recorded about a month before Kordahi was named information minister in the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, formed in September. Kordahi was named by a mainly Christian party allied to Hezbollah. Saudi officials blasted his remarks as “offensive” and biased toward the Houthis. Since 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis, who a year earlier took control of the capital, Sanaa, and northern parts of Yemen. Most commentators have said they believe Kordahi’s comments were a pretext for the Saudis to vent their frustration at Iran’s influence in Lebanon. WHAT DO THE SAUDIS WANT? The Saudis know what they don’t want — growing Iranian influence in Lebanon — but they don’t know what to do about it, said Joseph Bahout, research director at the Worldwide University of Beirut. Saudi Arabia has long been a close ally of politicians in Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim community, which chooses the prime minister under the country’s sectarian scheme. But the kingdom never forged the divided community into a strong political proxy the way the Shiite Hezbollah — with its powerful armed force — became Iran’s stalwart ally in Lebanon. Particularly since the 2005 assassination of its most powerful ally, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the kingdom lost its tools of influence.

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