The United States and Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement at the end of the Riyadh summit in which they stressed “the importance of backing the Lebanese state in extending its sovereignty across its entire territory.”
The statement that was revealed by the Saudi official news agency SPA said the two sides also underscored the need to “disarm terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and put all arms under the legitimate supervision of the Lebanese army.”
In his first public address abroad since taking office on January 20th, U.S. President Donald Trump compared Sunday Hezbollah to other extremist organizations such as Islamic State and al-Qaida and praised the Lebanese army for fighting IS and hailed Lebanon for hosting a huge number of Syrian refugees.
Praising the Gulf Cooperation Council for “blocking funds for terrorists” and ” designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization last year,” Trump praised Saudi Arabia for joining Washington this week in “placing sanctions on one of the most senior leaders of Hezbollah,” Hashem Safieddine, who heads up Hezbollah’s executive council.
He pointed out that “from Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms, and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region.”
“For decades, Iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror,” Trump charged.
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