Rouhani accuses Saudi Arabia of urging Israel to attack Lebanon

Tehran, Nov 15 :   Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday blasted Saudi Arabia for appealing to Israel to launch a military attack on Lebanon, Press TV reported.

It is "shameful" that Saudi Arabia has urged Israel to carry out military strikes against Lebanon, Rouhani said, referring to recent remarks of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Lebanon's political and paramilitary party Hezbollah.

"It is very reprehensible and shameful for a Muslim country in the region to beg the Zionist regime (of Israel) to bomb the people of Lebanon," Rouhani told a government meeting on Wednesday. 

"It is unprecedented in history for a Muslim country to take such measures, and this indicates the immaturity of the individuals, who have come to power in those countries," Rouhani added. 

Nasrallah claimed on November 10 that Saudi Arabia had appealed to the Israel to launch a military attack against Lebanon, in the name of fighting Hezbollah, and was ready to spend billions of US dollars to attain this objective.

Nasrallah's comments came days after Saad Hariri announced his resignation as Lebanon's Prime Minister in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, two major rivals in the region, have been trading barbs following Hariri's resignation and Saudi's interception of a ballistic missile fired at a Riyadh airport by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, both on November 4.

Saudi Arabia accused Iran and Lebanon of declaring war against the kingdom, while Iran and Hezbollah blamed Riyadh for interfering in Lebanon's affairs by forcing Hariri to resign.