Middle East

[SkyDekker 1,465]

Looks like things are about to get interesting again.

KSA has basically deposed the Lebanese PM. He was called for by the Saudi Prince, resigned after meeting him and hasn't returned to Lebanon.

Another Sunni/Shiite proxy war coming up.....

[Phil1111 1,149]

Are Saudi Arabia And Iran About To Go To War?
http://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-iran-conflict-ballistic-missile-yemen-war-702913

32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman wants to consolidate power first. The wave of arrests within the Saudi kingdom have been seen internally as a consolidation of his power base. With US support. Instead of US neutrality.
Saudi purge demonstrates ruthlessness of crown prince
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41905942

Most likely is the use of proxy forces supported by the Saudi-Sunni alliance. To attack the Hezbollah puppet government of Hassan Nasrallah who owe allegiance to Iran. Leading to a Sunni(Saudi) vr. Iran(Shia) conflict in Lebanon.

The largest part of the equation which has yet to speak is Egypt.
Which has been dealing with a IS & Al Qaeda insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is the powerhouse of the Sunni alliance in that part of the middle east.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned other countries Friday against using Lebanon for "proxy conflicts" following a crisis triggered by Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation.

Tillerson also described Hariri, who announced his resignation November 4 from Saudi Arabia, as a "strong partner" of the United States.

"The United States cautions against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country," Tillerson said in a statement.

Hariri's resignation came as a shock. He accused Iran-backed Hizbullah of controlling Lebanon.

Many observers saw his stepping down as being directed by Saudi Arabia, Iran's big rival in the region.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of "detaining" Hariri and of asking Israel to launch strikes on Lebanon.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/238061-tillerson-says-hariri-strong-partner-warns-against-using-lebanon-for-proxy-conflicts

Is war between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah an impossible scenario?
The proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran threatens to spill over from Yemen into Lebanon as Riyadh rattles sabers at Lebanese terrorist group..

Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS. He is the most powerful man in the kingdom and possibly the most important and far-reaching reformer in Saudi Arabia this decade, who is currently leading several parallel moves.

MBS no longer hides the war going on between the Sunni and Shia factions in the Middle East. He has done more than a little to emphasize it and demonstrate it. It is no longer games and diplomatic statements in the name of “Muslim brotherhood.”

MBS understood this week the great danger that Iran has created on Saudi Arabia’s doorstep, after the missile was fired at the airport.
Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Moscow’s Kremlin, Russia, May 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, pool, File)

For bin Salman this was a provocation to war, a casus belli...

It is possible that these are three parallel paths which will not converge quickly. In other words, (and not specifically in this order) bin Salman may be first working to reform the inner processes of Saudi Arabia, for example the status of women in the kingdom, by fighting corruption and purging pockets of resistance within the royal court. Second, he is working actively against Iran and Hezbollah which we may soon witness. And third, giving backing to negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in order to show the Western world and the Arab nations that he still wants to help the Palestinians.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/is-war-between-saudi-arabia-and-hezbollah-an-impossible-scenario/

[Phil1111 1,149]

Israel and Saudi Arabia: What's shaping the covert 'alliance'
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42094105