Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said he plans to visit Beirut this week, while also expressing cautious optimism for greater stability in Lebanon following the election of President Joseph Aoun and the selection of PM-designate Nawaf Salam, Al Arabiya reports citing statements by the top diplomat at Davos. Aoun’s accession points to the declining influence of Hezbollah on the Lebanese stage, with the Iranian-backed paramilitary having stood at odds with Saudi interests.

What they said: “We will need to see a commitment to a Lebanon that is looking to the future, not to the past, in order for us to raise our engagement,” Farhan said.

Positive tidings? A “last-minute push” by the Kingdom earlier this month was the deciding factor in Aoun’s pick as Lebanon’s new president, according to CNN. Amid greater engagement by Saudi Arabia in Lebanon, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding is taking on the reconstruction of Beirut’s Four Seasons Hotel, aiming to reopen it by 1Q 2026.

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