Saudi Arabia and Iran try to broker deal on Lebanon’s presidency


Issue 1006 - 10 Dec 2015 | 3 minute read

The surprise elevation of a long-marginalised faction leader as prime contender to become Lebanese head of state points to a backroom deal cooked up in Riyadh and Tehran, and provides a rare glimpse of Saudi-Iranian consensus. As Saudi and Iranian negotiators work to end the 18-month deadlock that has kept Lebanon without a president, the deal to nominate Suleiman Franjieh Jnr, head of Zgharta-based Tayyar Al-Marada (Marada Movement), is not a foregone conclusion. But Riyadh’s key ally, Saad Hariri, appears to have convinced his Saudi allies to back it, even at the risk of handing the keys to Baabda Palace to a long-standing friend of reviled Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

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