20
November 2017
Past Event
Is Lebanon Saudi Arabia's New Zone of Confrontation with Iran?

Is Lebanon Saudi Arabia's New Zone of Confrontation with Iran?

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
November 20, 2017
Saudi King Salman receives former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned recently, in Riyadh, November 6, 2017 (Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Royal Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Caption
Saudi King Salman receives former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned recently, in Riyadh, November 6, 2017 (Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Royal Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
20
November 2017
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Lee Smith

Former Senior Fellow

michael_doran
Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

Mohammed Alyahya

Nonresident Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council

Tony Badran
Tony Badran

News Editor, Tablet

Under the new leadership of 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has found itself in the middle of a storm generated by internal opponents to his rule, the country’s foreign adversaries, and partly by the young ruler himself. Earlier in November, Saudi air defenses intercepted a missile fired at Riyadh by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. On the same day, Saudi authorities arrested dozens of senior figures, including well-connected royals like Prince Walid Bin Talal, on corruption charges and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, while traveling in Riyadh, announced his resignation and denounced Iran’s long arm in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Saudi officials followed Hariri’s statement with warnings of their own, explaining that as long as Lebanon was controlled by Hezbollah, it would be treated as an enemy.

Is Lebanon Saudi Arabia’s newest regional theater of conflict with Iran, after Yemen and Syria? What’s the Crown Prince’s next move? What does it mean for Lebanon if Hezbollah’s base of operations is now a potential conflict zone? And how is the Trump administration managing its regional partners and the larger strategic picture in the Middle East?

On November 20, Hudson Institute held an important and timely lunchtime panel discussion moderated by Lee Smith, and featuring Michael Doran, Mohammed Alyahya, and Tony Badran.

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