A decision by Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri to step away from Lebanese politics opens the way for Sh'ite Hezbollah to extend its already deep sway over the country, rendering it ever more a bastion of Iranian influence on the Mediterranean.

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Three times prime minister, Hariri declared on Monday he would suspend his role in public life and boycott a general election in May, citing Iranian influence as one of the reasons he saw little hope of positive change.

It opens a new phase in Lebanon's sectarian politics, governed by a system of power-sharing among its many sects, and adds to the uncertainties facing a country suffering a financial meltdown that marks the biggest threat to stability since a 1975-90 civil war.

Hariri's move will accelerate the fragmentation of the Sunni community which his family dominated for 30 years with Saudi support, before Riyadh cut him off, abandoning a Lebanon policy that had cost billions but failed to curb Hezbollah.

Founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982 and heavily armed, Hezbollah has long been Lebanon's strongest faction, gradually establishing the country as one of several Arab states where Iran's Shiite Islamist government wields major sway and making Lebanon a theatre of its struggle with Gulf Arab states.

Stronger financially than most in Lebanon, Hezbollah is well positioned to capitalize on Hariri's retreat. A source familiar with Hezbollah's thinking said the group is already eyeing potential gains for its allies in the Sunni community, typically local politicians lacking the national sway of Hariri's party.

But Hezbollah is also wary of new challenges, including the risk that local and regional adversaries will seek to replace Hariri with more hawkish figures who will seek confrontation rather than strike compromises the way he did in recent years.

Hariri's political earthquake is set against the backdrop of an escalation in the wider struggle between Iran and US-allied Gulf Arab states. The Iran-aligned Houthis have launched two rocket attacks on the United Arab Emirates this month.

The UAE belongs to a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen that says Hezbollah is aiding the Houthis.

On Saturday, a Gulf Arab envoy handed the Lebanese government a list of conditions for thawing ties which a Lebanese diplomatic source said included setting a time frame for the implementation an 18-year-old UN resolution that requires Hezbollah's disarmament.

Political sources say the demand was seen in Beirut as an escalation by Gulf states that expelled Lebanese ambassadors in October in a rift over criticism of the Yemen war by a Hezbollah-aligned minister.

The list, described by the Gulf envoy as confidence-building proposals, also echoed Western demands for the election to be held on time.

But with the Sunni political scene in disarray, some analysts expect calls for a postponement.

Many observers believe this would suit all major players apart from Hezbollah's adversaries who include the Christian Lebanese Forces, a Saudi-aligned party which hopes the majority Hezbollah won with its allies in 2018 can be overturned.

"If the big powers in Lebanon including Hezbollah think it is in their interest to delay the elections, they will do so," said Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief at Annahar daily.

If the election happens, the subsequent horse-trading over a new government is likely to be even more difficult than usual.

This uncertainty does not bode well for the chances of government action to tackle the economic crisis.

Hariri's decision has turned an already complicated electoral landscape on its head.

Dozens of parliament's 128 seats will be affected.

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It won't only affect the 20 seats his Future Movement won in 2018, but many more won by other groups in local alliances with Future. There is currently no Sunni with the kind of country-wide network maintained by Hariri, who lost a third of his seats in 2018 but maintained his position as the leading Sunni.

One of his brothers, Bahaa, may run or back candidates, but has yet to announce his plans. Bahaa has criticized Saad over his accommodations with Hezbollah.

Druze politician Walid Jumblatt told Reuters Hariri's step meant "a free hand for Hezbollah and the Iranians."

Hezbollah-allied Sunnis won seats from Future in 2018.

But the situation may not be so clear cut for Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by the United States.

For while Hariri's early career was defined by confrontation with Hezbollah, culminating in a brief civil war in 2008, he later made compromises that suited the group and its allies.

In his speech on Monday, Hariri said his compromises had avoided civil war.

"I am not so sure how happy Hezbollah is" with Hariri's decision, said Heiko Wimmen of International Crisis Group.

"It is in Hezbollah's interest to have at least the outward appearance of a functioning political system where everyone is involved, including the Sunnis."

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Iranian and Gulf Arab officials met in Baghdad on Saturday on the sidelines of a regional summit that Iraq hoped would encourage its neighbors to talk to each other instead of settling scores on its territory.

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The meetings come months after regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed direct talks in Iraq which have achieved no breakthrough but have helped offset escalating tension in the Middle East.

Iraq's security has improved in recent years but it is still plagued by big power rivalries, rampant corruption among its own politicians and heavily armed militia groups.

Competition for influence in the Middle East between Iran on one side and the United States, Israel and Gulf Arab states on the other has made Iraq the scene of attacks against US forces and assassinations of Iranian and Iraqi paramilitary leaders.

The strained relationships within the region have also led to disruptions to global oil supplies with attacks on Saudi Arabian oil installations – blamed on but denied by Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his counterparts from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, officials from the two Gulf Arab states said, but provided no further details.

There was no indication of any direct meetings between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but Iraq said talks between the two countries, which began in April, were continuing.

French President Emmanuel Macron also attended the Baghdad meeting, hailing it as a major boost for Iraq and its leadership. The country had been largely shunned by Arab leaders for the past few decades because of security concerns amid back-to-back wars and internal unrest, its airport frequently attacked with rockets by insurgents.

On Saturday, Iraqi leaders were on hand at Baghdad International Airport to receive the red carpet arrivals. They included Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Jordan's King Abdullah and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It was the first official visit to Iraq by the Qatari emir, whose country's ties with Saudi Arabia are also fraught with tensions. Relations have improved recently since a declaration was signed with the kingdom and other Arab Gulf states to ease a years-long rift.

Macron was due to stay an extra day, meet Iraqi leaders and visit French special forces fighting Islamic State insurgents.

Organizers of the Baghdad summit said they did not expect any diplomatic breakthroughs. "Getting these countries to sit around the table – that will be achievement enough," said one Iraqi government official.

Iranian officials have said they are focused more on the outcome of talks in Vienna with Western powers over Iran's nuclear program and international sanctions.

"The meeting in Iraq ... is only focused on Iraq and how the regional countries can cooperate to help Iraq," an Iranian official told Reuters ahead of the Baghdad summit.

Ahead of the summit, UAE Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum met Qatar's al-Thani and described him as a "brother and friend" in a sign of warming ties between the Gulf rivals.

Iraqi special forces deployed in Baghdad, particularly around the Green Zone, seat of the Iraqi government, where the summit was held. Participants were expected to discuss a regional water crisis, the war in Yemen and a severe economic and political crisis in Lebanon that has brought the country to the point of collapse.

Lebanon, which has been without a functional government for the past year, and Syria, which has been suspended from the Arab League since 2011, were not represented at the meeting.

Macron described Saturday's meeting as "historic," showcasing Iraq's return to stability following the ruinous war against the Islamic State group, which was defeated in 2017.

Sunday's meeting was a chance for Iraqi leaders to underscore their recent efforts to portray Iraq as a neutral mediator in the region's crises and re-engage with the world after decades of conflict.

"Iraq, which for years has been a headline for war and conflicts, is hosting leaders and representatives of the region today to affirm their support for Iraqi sovereignty and prosperity," said President Barham Salih.

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Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has presented a new cabinet proposal to President ichel Aoun and said he was awaiting his response on Thursday in a move that could end nine months of deadlock as the country faces economic collapse.

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Veteran Sunni politician Hariri has presented multiple proposals to Aoun, an ally of Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah, over the past months, but they have been unable to agree on a list.

"Now is the moment of truth," Hariri, who has been at loggerheads with Aoun over the naming of ministers since he was appointed in October, told reporters on Wednesday after the meeting.

Aoun said in a statement he would study the proposal that contained "new names and a new distribution for portfolios and sects from what was previously agreed" to reach a decision.

The proposal is for 24 specialist technocrat ministers, in line with a French initiative that envisioned a government capable of enacting reforms that could unlock much needed foreign aid to rescue the nation.

The previous proposals have also been for a technocrat team belonging to different sects. It was not immediately clear specifically how the new line-up differed or what would happen if Aoun rejected it.

However, Wednesday's proposal is seen as Hariri's last attempt to form a cabinet as he was widely expected to give up on his efforts after a trip to long-time backer Egypt.

Saudi-owned Al Hadath television reported earlier that Cairo had asked him not to stand down, citing its own sources.Sources in Cairo said Egypt had promised economic and political support for a new government and that a delegation would travel to Beirut soon.

If the cabinet were rejected and Hariri quit, it would leave the country having to seek another Sunni willing to replace him.

Under a sectarian power-sharing system, Lebanon's president must be a Maronite Christian and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim. With less than a year to an anticipated parliamentary election, few figures might be willing to step forward.

Lebanon has been without a government since the last one resigned in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut port blast that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands of others and destroyed swathes of the city.

The deadlock has deepened the financial crisis, dubbed by the World bank as one of the deepest depressions of modern history.

"For me, this government can start to rescue the country and stop the collapse," Hariri said.

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Cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, living in Iran, said he was against normalization between Arab countries and Israel, in a statement published by dissolved Bahraini opposition party al-Wefaq, a group close to Qassim.

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The accords between Israel and the UAE last month, and between Israel and Bahrain on Friday, go against the will of the people, he said.

"There is a great divergence between the rulers and the ruled in thought, mind, aims and interests. Governments are experiencing a psychological defeat and want to impose it on the people, and the people have to resist this defeat," Qassim said.

A joint statement by a group of Bahraini political and civil society associations, including the Bahrain Bar Association, on Sunday, stood against the deal.

"What results from normalization will not enjoy popular backing, in line with what generations of Bahrainis have been brought up on in terms of adherence to the Palestinian cause," the statement said.

The head of Bahrain's highest court ordered judiciary employees not to criticize government policy or express opinions harming national unity, al-Bilad newspaper reported on Sunday.

Bahrainis have previously criticized their government's engagements with Israel, including last June's conference in Manama to launch a US-led $50 billion economic formula for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Parliament last April joined social media calls to stop Israeli business and government officials attending an international entrepreneurship conference. The delegation did not attend.

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We have waited dozens of years for this development to take place. Saudi Arabia is not just any other country. It is much bigger and much more conservative than other Gulf states and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, considers himself to be the leader of the Sunnis. Thus, a Saudi green light for Israeli overflights is no ordinary thing; it is a clear message that reverberates from Tehran to Rabat and from Ankara to Pretoria, and may have implications for many years to come.

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The Arab boycott on Israel was imposed in 1945, even before the state was born. And now, 75 years later, the ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is effectively saying that the era of boycotts is over.

Let's stop and think about what all this means. There is peace with Egypt and Jordan; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers have already visited Oman and the UAE; there have been breakthroughs in relations with Chad and Sudan, and now the queen mother of the Sunni world, the author of the Saudi Peace Initiative and the bankroller of many regimes in the region, has said it loud and clear: The Star of David can fly over our territory. For the time being this is just about overflight rights, but there will come a time when Israelis will be able to actually set foot in the kingdom. One thing is abundantly clear: Saudi Arabia wants to talk peace with Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the architect of this breakthrough, said on Wednesday that this will have enormous implications for Israel's economy, by lowering airfare for those who want to fly east, as well as in other aspects.

Netanyahu gets credit to promoting the idea that Israel can get closer ties to the Arab world without necessarily making concessions to the Palestinians. But it is Jared Kushner and his team who have made this into reality under the leadership of President Donald Trump, using his newly revealed peace plan.

Some on the Israeli Right are angry that Kushner's efforts have stifled the Israeli move to extend sovereignty to certain parts of Judea and Samaria. There is no doubt that this promise must be implemented, but in light of the tremendous strides Trump and Kushner have made in helping Israel's stature, there is no justification for attacking the administration.

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Visiting explosion-ravaged Beirut this week, France's leader comforted distraught crowds, promised to rebuild the city and claimed that the blast pierced France's own heart. "France will never let Lebanon go," Macron said. "The heart of the French people still beats to the pulse of Beirut."

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His critics denounced the overtures as a neocolonialist foray by a European leader seeking to restore sway over a troubled Middle Eastern land – and distract from mounting problems at home. A meme circulating online dubbed him Macron Bonaparte, a 21st century Emperor Napoleon.

But Macron's defenders -- including desperate Beirut residents who called him "our only hope" -- praised him for visiting gutted neighborhoods where Lebanese leaders fear to tread, and for trying to hold Lebanon's politicians accountable for the corruption and mismanagement blamed for Tuesday's deadly blast.

Macron's visit exposed France's central challenge as it prepares to host an international donors conference for Lebanon on Sunday: how to help a country in crisis, where French economic ties run deep, without interfering in its internal affairs.

"We are walking on the edge of a precipice. We have to aid, support and encourage the Lebanese people, but at the same time not give the impression that we want to establish a new protectorate, which would be completely stupid," said Jack Lang, a former French government minister who now heads the Arab World Institute in Paris. "We must find new, intelligent solutions to aid the Lebanese."

France's ties with Lebanon reach back at least to the 16th century, when the French monarchy negotiated with Ottoman rulers to protect Christians -- and secure influence -- in the region. By the time of the 1920-1946 French mandate, Lebanon already had a network of French schools and French speakers that survives to this day -- along with France's cozy relationships with Lebanon's power brokers, including some accused of fueling its political and economic crisis.

A surprising online petition emerged this week asking France to temporarily restore its mandate, saying Lebanon's leaders have shown "total inability to secure and manage the country."

It's widely seen as an absurd idea -- Macron himself told Beirut residents Wednesday that "it's up to you to write your history" -- but 60,000 people have signed it, including members of France's 250,000-strong Lebanese diaspora and people in Lebanon who said it's a way to express their desperation and distrust of the political class.

Aside from a show of much-needed international support, many in Lebanon viewed Macron's visit as a way to secure financial assistance for a country wracked with debt.

The French leader also managed to bring the divided political class together, if briefly. In a rare scene, the heads of Lebanon's political factions -- some of them still bitter enemies from the 1975-1990 civil war -- appeared together at the Palais des Pins, the French embassy headquarters in Beirut, and filed out after meeting Macron.

But to many, the visit was seen as patronizing. Some lashed out at the petition and those celebrating "France, the tender mother."

One writer, Samer Frangieh, said Macron gathered the politicians as "schoolchildren," reprimanding them for failing to carry out their duties.

There were other, more subtle jabs against France's show of influence. While Macron was touring neighborhoods torn apart by the explosion, the health minister in the Hezbollah-backed government toured field hospitals donated by Iran and Russia, major power players in the region.

"I get the people who want the mandate. They have no hope," said Leah, an engineering student in Beirut who did not want her last name published out of concern for political repercussions. She spoke out strongly against the idea, and against those who see Macron as Lebanon's "savior."

She said that risks worsening Lebanon's divisions, as Maronite Christians and French-educated Muslims embrace Macron while others lean away. "He hasn't resolved his issues with his country, with his people. How is he giving advice to us?" she asked.

In Paris, Macron's domestic political opponents from the far left to the far right warned the centrist leader against creeping neocolonialism, and extracting political concessions from Lebanon in exchange for aid. "Solidarity with Lebanon should be unconditional," tweeted Julien Bayou, head of the popular Greens party.

Macron himself firmly rejected the idea of reviving the French mandate.

"You can't ask me to substitute for your leaders. It's not possible," he said. "There is no French solution."

But he made a point of noting that he plans to return to Lebanon to verify that promised reforms are being undertaken on Sept. 1, the 100th anniversary of the declaration of Greater Lebanon -- and the beginning of French rule.

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The priority targets were said to be "vital and sensitive" locations, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria said without giving more details, during a roundup of the group's activities during 2019 and outlook for 2020.

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The Houthis have repeatedly said they have targets in Saudi and the UAE in their sights and have carried out missile and drone strikes on civilian airports and oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, as well as on the capital Riyadh.

But in September the Houthis said they would stop attacking Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones if their adversaries attacking Yemen did the same. Since then, Riyadh has stepped up informal discussions with the Houthis on a ceasefire.

Saria, in comments carried by the group's Al Masirah television, also said that any attacks against Yemen and its people would continue to meet an appropriate response from Houthi armed forces.

The UAE is a leading partner in a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to restore ousted President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government after it was toppled by the Houthis in late 2014. In July the UAE said it was withdrawing its troops from Yemen, but remained a part of the coalition.

The Houthis claimed to have carried out a large Sept. 14 attack on Saudi oil giant Aramco, but the United States, European powers, and Saudi Arabia blamed the attack on Iran.

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