Arab and Islamic States Step Up Pressure on Iran, Urging It to “Halt Its Attacks”

As fighting continues to rage in southern Lebanon and tensions escalate on the Iranian front, attention has turned to Riyadh on 19 March – where the Saudi capital hosted an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries. Gulf Arab states have been under Iranian missile fire since the launch of the Israeli-American offensive against Iran on 28 February. Under the pretext of targeting American interests in these countries, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have struck civilian infrastructure and urban centers, while continuing to threaten vital oil facilities.

The tone of statements following the Riyadh meeting was notably firm – not only regarding missiles and drones attacks on the Gulf, but also in response to Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes, including much of the Gulf’s exports. Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud made clear his rejection of any pressure linked to the strait, stressing “the right of (Gulf) states to defend themselves against ongoing attacks.”

In a unified stance, the ministers condemned what they described as “completely unjustified Iranian missile and drone attacks on residential areas”, reaffirming “the right of states to self-defense, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.” They also issued “a call on Iran to immediately halt its attacks and to respect international law and the principles of good neighborliness,” adding that “the future of relations with Iran depends on its respect for state sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.”

Finally, another key point in the meeting’s communiqué was “the condemnation of any support for or provision of weapons to militias in Arab countries” – a stance that directly implicates Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen.

What emerges from these statements is not only the uniformly firm tone adopted by Arab and Islamic states, but also the growing isolation of Iran’s strategy since the start of its war with the United States and Israel – a strategy widely seen as seeking to sow chaos across the region and now beginning to backfire.

The ministers also expressed their “support for Lebanon’s security and stability, for the state’s monopoly on arms, and their condemnation of Israeli attacks on its territory” – amounting to a clear and firm stance against both parties to the conflict: Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon was represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Joe Raggi. In his statements, he called on Arab and Islamic countries to support President Joseph Aoun’s initiative for direct negotiations with Israel – a plan aimed at ending the war in Lebanon, which has already claimed nearly a thousand lives and displaced more than a million people. So far, neither Israel (backed by the United States) nor Hezbollah (and its Shiite allies in Lebanon) have shown any willingness to engage. While condemning Israeli attacks, the Lebanese minister did not shy away from criticizing Iran for drawing Lebanon into the conflict through Hezbollah – a stance that marks a significant departure from that of his predecessors. He also reiterated Lebanon’s condemnation of Tehran’s attacks on the Gulf.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad Chibani reassured his Lebanese counterpart that his country has no intention of entering Lebanon or interfering in its internal affairs. According to recent media reports, the United States had allegedly asked Syria to get involved in the ongoing war in Lebanon to rein in Hezbollah – a longstanding adversary of the new Syrian regime – but Damascus reportedly refused.

For the First Time, Long-Range Missiles

While Arab and Islamic ministers gathered in Saudi Arabia, French diplomacy was active in Lebanon. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was expected in Beirut on Thursday. France, it should be recalled, supports President Aoun’s initiative for direct negotiations with Israel and has proposed that they take place in Paris.

On Wednesday, remarks by the French president’s envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, caused a stir: in a televised interview, he said that Hezbollah is directly responsible for the latest escalation in Lebanon following its rocket attacks at dawn on 2 March, acting on behalf of Iran rather than in the interests of the Lebanese people – and certainly not those of southern Lebanon. He also criticized repeated calls on the Lebanese government (notably from the United States) to disarm Hezbollah, pointing out that Israel had been unable to do so over years of conflict, and that Lebanon could not be expected to accomplish the task “in three days and under fire.”

In this context, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot’s visit to Beirut is seen by observers as unlikely to make much of a difference, even as the situation on the ground appears to be igniting. Clearly, the time for diplomacy has not yet arrived.

Indeed, despite a relative calm in recent hours in southern suburbs of Beirut and the capital, the southern Lebanon front is witnessing fierce fighting between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, which announced it had killed around twenty militants over the past 24 hours. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has not reported its own casualties since the escalation began in March 2026.

The latest development is the Shiite group’s use of long-range ballistic missiles, reportedly fired from the Baalbek region in northern Bekaa – another of its strongholds – marking the first time such weapons have been deployed not only in this conflict but also during the previous one in 2023–2024. These new capabilities fundamentally change the rules of the game, expanding the battlefield and likely forcing Israel to rethink its strategy, as it is clear that Hezbollah can no longer rely solely on rockets fired near the border.

The timing of this development – coinciding with the assassination of prominent figures in Iran and an intensification of U.S. strikes on the country – could be explained by a desire to keep the Israeli army fully occupied on the Lebanese front, showing total disregard for lives and property inside Lebanon.

Another sign of the escalation on this front, and of growing animosity among the militia’s supporters toward a Lebanese government that now considers it to be operating illegally, is a series of cyberattacks on various Lebanese ministry websites, including the Ministry of Information (which recently banned the word “resistance” from public media). The hacker group, calling itself the Fatimids – a reference to Shiite history – also targeted the site of MTV, a media outlet known for its anti-Hezbollah stance, earlier this week.