Hezbollah was heavily involved in instigating and extending violence in Iraq, stretching back almost a decade. The Iran-backed terror group has been critical in assisting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime extend that country’s war, which has seen over 100,000 people killed and hundreds of people gassed to death. The group has been blasted by Lebanese officials for dragging Lebanon into the conflict.

Gulf nations have long blamed Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons for interfering in their internal affairs and for fomenting instability across the region.

Hezbollah responded in recent days by very pointedly warning Saudi Arabia that the Kingdom should reconsider its backing for rebels fighting the Assad regime:

“I want to extend a sincere and honest invitation, in light of the political realities and facts on the ground in Syria… to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Turkey and the rest of the Arab and Islamic states,” [Hezbollah chief] Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address. “Review your positions. The situation has begun to take on very serious dimensions in Syria,” he said. “You are betting on a failed military option… The solution is political, and political dialogue.”

Hezbollah also lashed out against Bahrain, criticizing the country for its treatment of its Shiite opposition. Bahraini foreign minister Khalid al-Khalifa was not amused:

“The people of Bahrain are above being addressed by a criminal whose hands are stained by the blood of innocents in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq,” Khalid al-Khalifa wrote on his Twitter account. Al-Khalifa’s comments came in response to Nasrallah’s warning on Monday that the government of Bahrain “should not assume it can continue to oppress its people and pressure the outside world to remain silent.”

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