The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes so-called “brotherly countries” like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are expanding visa restrictions on Lebanese, especially the Shia.  So, while Hezbollah gets funds from Iran, the Lebanese will face another financial hurdle, especially with decrease in remittances.

“Plans by Persian Gulf countries to crack down on Hezbollah may pose a bigger threat to Lebanon’s fragile public finances than to the Shiite militant group….  There are about 500,000 Lebanese in the Gulf. The money they send home…has accounted for about 60 percent of remittances flowing to the country in the recent past. That’s about $4.6 billion, according to World Bank data, or more than a tenth of the nation’s $43.8 billion gross domestic product.”  Read more…