He accused Iran of sowing “fear and destruction” in several countries, including Lebanon.

Mr Hariri’s father, former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was assassinated in 2005.

The Hariri family is close to Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional competitor.

Mr Hariri has been prime minister since December 2016, after previously holding the position between 2009 and 2011.

“We are living in a climate similar to the atmosphere that prevailed before the assassination of martyr Rafik al-Hariri,” he said in the broadcast from the Saudi capital Riyadh.

“I have sensed what is being plotted covertly to target my life.”

Mr Hariri also attacked the Iran-backed Shia movement Hezbollah, which wields considerable power in Lebanon.

Addressing “Iran and its followers” he said Lebanon would “cut off the hands that wickedly extend into it”.

Iran said the resignation would create regional tensions and rejected Mr Hariri’s accusations as “unfounded”.

Mr Hariri has made several visits in the past few days to Saudi Arabia, whose leadership is strongly opposed to Iran.

His announcement came a day after a meeting in Beirut with Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kahmenei.

Taking up the prime minister’s office last year, Mr Hariri promised a “new era for Lebanon” after two years of political deadlock.

The coalition government he led brought together almost all of the main political parties in Lebanon, including Hezbollah.

Rafik al-Hariri was killed by a bomb in 2005 in an attack widely blamed on Hezbollah.

–

Source: BBC

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The Pentagon is assessing the results of Monday’s operation before releasing details, a spokesman said.

However a US official quoted by the American media said “a senior al-Shabab operative” had been targeted.

The al-Qaeda-linked group lost control of Mogadishu to an African Union (AU) force in 2011 but still hold many southern and central areas.

“We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,” Pentagon spokesman John F Kirby said in a statement.

The American action comes after al-Shabab rebels attacked a detention centre in Mogadishu on Sunday, in an apparent effort to free other militants detained there.

Somali officials said all of the attackers, as well as three government soldiers and two civilians, were killed.

The Pentagon and the US state department have supported the 22,000-member AU force that drove al-Shabab from their former strongholds in the capital and other urban centres.

The militants continue to carry out bombings and assassinations in the city.

Al-Shabab fighters want to overthrow the internationally supported Somali government and frequently attack government targets as well as neighbouring countries that provide troops to the AU force.

The group said it carried out last year’s attack on the Westgate mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in which at least 67 people were killed.

Source: BBC

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