Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati is due to visit Saudi Arabia in the next two weeks, a first trip by a Lebanese premier to the Arab powerhouse in almost four years following an unprecedented rupture in relations.
The relationship for a number of years has been problematic because the Saudis had a sensible belief that Hezbollah is the dominant political force in the country. In part this has also been exacerbated by the fact that Hezbollah has sided with the Houthis in Yemen, and of course is a close ally of Iran.
The Arab attitude today is that they need to engage more with Syria and Lebanon. If they want to contain Iran in the region, they need to reopen ties, [and] rebuild their stakes in countries like Syria and Lebanon
