Lebanon must take action to stop Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah from exporting its “mercenaries” into Yemen and Syria, reportedly urged a Saudi military spokesman.
The Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, is currently fighting against U.S. interests alongside Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.
Al Arabiya News Channel reported that Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Asiri said participation of some Iranian and Hezbollah “mercenaries” who were killed in Yemen violated the United Nations resolution 2216, which ordered an end to violence in the southern Arabian Peninsula country.
Gen. Asiri’s comments came after the internationally recognized Yemeni government said on Wednesday that it has evidence that the Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah is backing its opponents, the Houthi rebels.
“The government, which is currently working with the Saudi-led Arab coalition and Popular Resistance units to dislodge Houthi militants from the capital and other areas, said that Hezbollah military trainers planned ‘hostile’ acts implemented by Houthis against Saudi Arabia,” reported Al Arabiya.
Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are regional enemies.
The Yemeni government, backed by the U.S. and the international community, has evidence of “Hezbollah’s involvement in the Houthi war against the Yemeni people,” said its spokesman Rajeh Badi in a statement published by an official news outlet.
Hezbollah militants are fighting in “the battlefields along the border with Saudi Arabia,” where attacks from Yemen have killed about 90 civilians and soldiers in the kingdom since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition began combating the Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen, said Badi.
Hezbollah is training Shiite Houthis and orchestrating attacks against Saudi Arabia, said Badi, urging “international legal measures” against the movement.
“This evidence is documented and Hezbollah cannot deny its role in the destruction it is contributing to through the clear moral and logistic support” for the Houthis, noted Badi.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government declared that it will file a complaint at the UN Security Council against what it referred to as Hezbollah’s “terrorist” acts.
Hezbollah and the Houthis are backed by Shiite powerhouse Iran.
The revelations by the official Yemeni government come after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Bahrain warned or prohibited their citizens against traveling to Lebanon.
Saudi cut billions of dollars in military aid to Lebanon after the country failed to back the kingdom in its recent spat with Iran.