Watan–In a strategic political move, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman succeeded in installing Lebanese Army Chief Joseph Aoun as the president of Lebanon, following more than two years of a presidential vacuum. This came after intense diplomatic and military efforts led by Saudi Arabia, in coordination with the United States, to ensure the arrival of a figure aligned with Western interests and to deepen the isolation of Hezbollah and Iran in the Lebanese arena.
In recent weeks, political pressures and diplomatic communications between Riyadh and Beirut increased, with Prince Yazid bin Farhan, the special envoy of Mohammed bin Salman, playing a key role in steering the electoral process by sidelining potential competitors and forcing political blocs to support Aoun. The Saudi position was not isolated, as it received direct backing from Washington and Paris, who saw the election of the army chief as a crucial step toward Lebanon’s stability and preventing the expansion of Iranian influence.
The pressure extended beyond diplomatic efforts to include financial and economic support, with Riyadh pledging to inject financial investments to support Lebanon’s collapsing economy, provided that Hezbollah and its allies were removed from the political scene. This approach reflects Mohammed bin Salman’s strategy of using money and political influence to impose his will on regional countries, just as he has done in Yemen, Libya, and Sudan.
However, this Saudi intervention in Lebanese affairs was not without internal and regional opposition. Iran viewed Aoun’s election as a political coup backed by the West, while Hezbollah considered Saudi Arabia’s role as part of dismantling Lebanon’s political structure in favor of its regional project.
On the other hand, these developments raised questions about the legitimacy of Joseph Aoun’s election, as the Lebanese constitution prohibits the nomination of army leaders unless they have resigned at least six months prior, which did not happen in this case, raising doubts about the legality of the election.
In his first statement after his victory, Joseph Aoun confirmed that Saudi Arabia would be his first foreign destination, clearly indicating the central role Riyadh played in his rise to power. This move reflects a shift in the balance of power in Lebanon and opens the door to a new phase of political struggle between the Saudi-American axis and the Iranian axis, which could place Lebanon at the heart of a new confrontation between regional and international powers.
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