Saudi Arabia Warns Iran Over Lebanon
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Saudi Arabia sent Iran a sharp warning over Lebanon yesterday, saying Tehran’s support for Hezbollah will damage its relations with other Muslim and Arab countries.
More soldiers fanned out through Beirut, with orders to use force to restore security to a nation shaken by nearly a week of clashes. Lebanese buried more of their dead and tried to resume life in a capital dissected by roadblocks. What began as a political struggle 11/2 years ago with Shiite ministers bolting from the Cabinet devolved last week into Lebanon’s worst fighting since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.
Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas and allied Amal gunmen have swept through large Sunni swaths of Beirut, neighborhoods that support the government of Prime Minister Siniora, a Sunni.
Yesterday, the strife between Lebanon’s government supporters and opponents expanded into a wider regional standoff between Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia and the world’s largest Shiite nation, Iran. Iran supports Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia backs Mr. Siniora’s Sunni-led government.
