Lebanon's acting prime minister, Saad Hariri, has accused Iran of meddling in Lebanon's internal affairs and of trying to turn his country and some Gulf Arab states into an "Iranian protectorate."
Hariri said his country, along with Bahrain and several others, are suffering from blatant Iranian intervention. He made the accusations Thursday in a speech to a business delegation in Beirut.
In January, Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies resigned from the country's coalition government, causing its collapse.
Later, a majority of Lebanese lawmakers voted to support Najib Mikati - a candidate backed by the Shi'ite militant group - to replace Hariri as prime minister.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.