The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—this week formally declared Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in the wake of a growing standoff between the Sunni Muslim Gulf states and Hezbollah-funding Shi’a Muslim Iran.
The GCC’s secretary general, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, declared that the six countries “consider the actions of Hezbollah militias in GCC countries, and the terrorist actions and incitements it conducts throughout Syria, Yemen, and Iraq…incompatible with the moral values, humanitarian principles, and international law, and [the actions] pose a threat to Arab national security.”
The GCC declaration came in response to a televised speech on Tuesday by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in which he accused Saudi Arabia of fueling sectarian instability in the region.
“[Saudi Arabia’s] problem is with Hezbollah. They want the government, political powers, and Lebanese people inside and outside Lebanon to stand in the face of Hezbollah so that it abandons its stance from Saudi [Arabia], even if that requires incitements, civil war, or toppling the government,” Nasrallah said, theWall Street Journal reported.
