Iran's Rouhani: Saudis Concealing Defeat in Middle East

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Saudi Arabia has been verbally attacking his country because it seeks to hide its defeat in the region, referring to the Arab kingdom’s meddling in several other countries’ affairs.

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“Saudi Arabia was unsuccessful in Qatar, was unsuccessful in Iraq, in Syria and recently in Lebanon. In all of these areas, they were unsuccessful,” Rouhani said in an interview on Iranian television. “So they want to cover up their defeats.”

Both Iran and Saudi Arabia have been backing different sides in regional conflicts to secure their interests, with their most notable clash being in Syria where Saudi Arabia backs jihadi forces opposed to the government of Bashar al-Assad and Iran backs Assad. With the defeat of the Islamic State group, and the backing of three major parties in Syria: Russia, Iran, and now Turkey, Assad is poised to win the long and bloody conflict.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in a controversial interview with New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman.  

Amid already existing tensions in the region, another hotspot was sparked in the region - this time in Lebanon. Lebanon’s Saudi-allied Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned in a televised speech from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where he claimed that Iran’s influence and alignment with Hezbollah had caused him to fear for his life.

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Hezbollah officials immediately denounced the move by blaming Saudi Arabia and calling it a provocation meant to destabilize the Levantine country.

After much speculation of a possible forced detention, Hariri finally returned to Beirut and suspended his resignation after Lebanese President Michel Aoun urged the politician to engage in dialogue. Hariri has still maintained public criticism of Hezbollah.

Rouhani applauded the alliance of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia in the Middle East region that has achieved “big accomplishments.”