Iran has told Hezbollah’s military arm to stop attacking Israel and instead turn its sights to Saudi Arabia, according to a report in Middle East Eye.
The instructions come amid the aftermath of the killing of Hezbollah military commander in Syria Mustafa Badreddine, which the Lebanese Shi’ite grouped blamed on hardline “takfiri” forces backed by Saudi Arabia.
Citing “well informed sources in Lebanon,” MEE says that Qasim Suleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, personally gave the order to Hezbollah in Beirut.
The report also states that Suleimani announced that Badreddine would be replaced by Fuad Shukr, a 55-year-old member of Hezbollah’s founding group and resident of the Bekaa Valley. This contradicts a previous report in Saudi-linked paper Asharq al-Awsat, which had named Mustafa Mughniyeh, Badreddine’s nephew, as his successor.
