Since the very first moment that Hassan Diab was designated as the new prime minister to form a new cabinet, a media warfare has been launched against him by the Western countries and Saudi Arabia, accusing him as a Hezbollah element.

On Thursday, after several hours of consultation, Diab won 69 votes in parliament as prime minister and then was tasked by the president to form a government.

Diab is a university professor. He served as education minister from 2011-2014 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Mikati and had a good relationship with Hezbollah. 

The Americans wanted Nawaf Salam as the prime minister and view nomination of Diab as prime minister as a coup against themselves. 

Saad Hariri, who resigned as prime minister in October after weeks of protests, has said he will not join the Diab government. However, protests in front of the new prime minister’s house by his supporters indicate that a plan is being secretly carried out. 

Saudi media outlets have given wide coverage to the protests by Hariri’s supporters in different areas of Beirut and reported that the supporters of the former prime minister and the Future Movement blocked some streets in the capital. 

Many American and European media outlets have officially called Diab a Hezbollah nominee, whose premiership will cause political tensions in the country. Through various reports and analyses, these media outlets are trying to portray this image that Diab not only is not popular among the Lebanese but that his leadership will exacerbate the situation in the country. 

The Saudi-owned TV channels, including Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath, have also taken the same approach and claimed that the next government under Diab will be against the majority of the Lebanese people.

Following his selection as prime minister, a senior U.S. State Department official, David Hale, visited Lebanon on Friday. Many Lebanese political groups have stated that the U.S. official's visit to Beirut is highly suspicious.

Diab has said that he is not affiliated with any group or party, so the media warfare by certain countries against him, in fact, reveals that a Western-Saudi plan is underway to weaken the new Lebanese prime minister.