Despite the Iran-Saudi agreement, Lebanon remains in a political deadlock

 

While the recent Saudi-Iran deal, mediated by China, gave the Middle East some hope, it placed uncertainty on Lebanon, where a months-long presidential vacuum has aggravated the country's institutional stagnation and a long-standing economic catastrophe.

Lebanon, a small Mediterranean nation whose governing elite has historically been associated with foreign powers to maintain influence and economic stability, has suffered as a result of the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The Lebanese pound lost more than 90% of its value in 2019 due to an economic catastrophe, and the ruling class—which has been widely held responsible for the financial collapse—failed to stop the currency's precipitous decline.

Since last year, the nation has only had a caretaker administration and no president.

The deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which is expected to result in the full restoration of diplomatic ties between the two nations after a seven-year break, has the power to alter the regional order.

After the Arab League was suspended due to President Bashar al-Assad's ruthless suppression of pro-democracy uprisings more than ten years ago, Saudi Arabia has already campaigned for Syria, an ally of Iran, to be reinstated.

In Yemen, the agreement looked to have facilitated the release of a large number of Houthi prisoners held in Saudi Arabia and supported by Iran, opening the door to the possibility of peace in the troubled nation.

However, the Saudi-Iran agreement appears to be even more dormant in light of the impasse over the presidency between Lebanon's warring parliamentary blocs.

Nasser Yassin, the environment minister in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that "unlike in Yemen, the Saudi-Iran deal will not reflect on Lebanon's political reality in the near future, except in terms of preventing further escalation among local allies."

Since previous President Michel Aoun's term ended at the end of October, Lebanon has been without a head of state, a position that by tradition must be held by a Maronite Christian.