Lebanon, Iraq Support Iran in AL Meeting

Lebanon and Iraq supported Iran in the preparatory and ministerial meetings of the 29th Arab League on Saturday.

Representatives from the two countries opposed an anti-Iran provision in a statement issued at the end of the ministerial meeting of the Arab League summit in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, IRNA reported, citing the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar.

The provision accused Iran of interfering in Arab countries’ affairs. Tehran has rejected the accusation as “unfounded”, adding that it is the Saudi government which is doing the Islamic world a disservice by supporting the controversial and dangerous US and Israeli policies in the volatile region.

Riyadh is trying hard to use the meeting of the 22-member group as a platform to reiterate its hawkish anti-Iranian position.

The 29th Arab League Summit was to open in the Saudi city of Dhahran on Sunday.

The event was initially scheduled for Riyadh, but the venue was shifted out of fear that the Saudi capital could be targeted by Yemeni Houthi missiles.

Saudi Arabia has launched a war against the Houthis since 2015 and leads a poorly-organized coalition of Arab regimes that continues to bomb the impoverished nation from the air spreading death and destruction on a shocking scale.