Analyst: Exposure of Qatar-Saudi Arabia rift biggest blow to Riyadh summit

Beirut, May 29, IRNA – Exposing the widening rift between Qatar and Saudi Arabia was the worst blow to Riyadh summit so that the Saudis were trying to turn the same into a pressure lever against Iran and the axis of resistance, Lebanese political analyst Wassim Bazzi said on Monday. The joint meeting between US President Donald Trump and Arab leaders was held in Riyadh last week. Some participants of the meeting expressed unawareness of the final communiqué content. Soon after the meeting, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad’s criticizing remarks on the policy of pressuring Iran stirred much reaction. The wave of blasts against the Qatari leader, despite the remarks being dismissed later, continues in the media close to the Saudi rulers. However, the phone call of Tamim bin Hamad with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on May 27 is practically a clear indication that Qatar is not happy with raising tensions with Iran. The Lebanese political analyst Wassim Bazzi told Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Monday that the recent difference between Saudi Arabia and Qatar tarnished the images Saudis tried to give from the meeting. “The most important part of Sayyed Hassan Nasrollah’s speech was related to the Riyadh meeting,” he said, referring to the speech of Hezbollah’s Secretary General after the summit. “He reacted to the meeting from an important, influential tribune, which is characterized by the high capacity to send an immediate message and influence the audience,” Bazzi added, saying that beside enjoying ample strength and power, the message is to achieve the desired balance. Bazzi described Hezbollah as one of the main audiences of Riyadh summit, saying that considering the fact, a reaction from an Arab country like Lebanon is of a great importance, since Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, is a unique media center in the region and it makes the speech attracts much attention both in regional and international arenas. The Lebanese analyst described Nasrallah’s speech a reflection of power equity on the ground and said: resistance coalition, as the Secretary General said, is fully prepared for any confrontation, having passed the defense phase and reaching the aggressive one today. The basis for Nasrallah’s confident position is the regional developments after the recent strikes against Syrian army that Washington is witnessing, he stressed referring the two air strikes on Syrian government positions, allegedly by the Zionist regime. “Al-Shayrat airbase bombing not only couldn’t affect the high spirit of the Syrian army, but also it was followed by the army’s more active presence in the region; in other words, the strike was merely a sound bomb which didn’t bear any ground results.” The al-Tanf crossing strike was also the same; in less than 48 hours after the bombing, the Syrian army could control the area as well as advancing thousands of kilometers further, clearing the way for Popular Mobilization Units approaching the crossing in Iraq, the Syrian army and allied forces to join each other at the border point, according to the analyst. Bazzi believed that Hezbollah’s leader relied on the ground facts, hence he turned the final communiqué to a futile empty one. 1378/IRNA