Saudi Arabia Complains To The UAE At The United Nations After A Border Dispute
Saudi Arabia submits an official complaint to the United Nations against the UAE due to a border dispute over the Al Yasat area. After its dispute with Iran, will Israel exploit this complaint to ignite the entire Gulf region?!
An official document published by the United Nations website revealed Saudi Arabia’s “rejection” of the UAE’s declaration that “Al Yasat” is a protected marine area, considering that this “contradicts international law.” According to an official document published by the United Nations website dated March 28, 2024, a letter from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations says that it “does not consider or recognize any legal effect” of the UAE’s declaration that “Al Yasat” is a protected marine area, according to Emiri Decree No. 4. Issued in 2019.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said, according to the UN memorandum, that the Kingdom “does not recognize… any measures or practices taken or their consequences by the UAE government in the maritime area off the Saudi coast.”
She added that Saudi Arabia “adheres to all its rights and interests, in accordance with the border agreement concluded between the two countries on August 21, 1974, which is binding on both parties in accordance with public international law,” according to the memorandum, which the Saudi government considers an “official document” and called on the United Nations to circulate it. There was no official comment from the UAE.
This comes as American media reported that there were “escalating disagreements” between the two countries, regarding policies towards Yemen and the decisions of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Al Yasat is a marine area belonging to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, located near the territorial waters of the Emirates, which was declared a marine protected area for the first time in 2005.
According to the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the Al Yasat marine area includes 4 islands with the surrounding waters, and is located in the far southwest of Abu Dhabi. The reserve contains unique marine creatures, including sea turtles, dolphins, and dugongs, which are threatened with extinction, and all of which live, reproduce, and feed in the reserve, according to the same source.
In 2005, the late President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued an Emiri decree declaring “Al Yasat” a protected area for the first time. There are about 3,000 endangered dugongs in the UAE, which has the second largest population of creatures in the world, with 20 percent of them living in the area surrounding Al Yasat, according to a report dating back to 2009 by the local English-language newspaper The National.
In that report, the Emirati newspaper said, “The Abu Dhabi government is reviewing a law that would more than quadruple the size of the Al Yasat Marine Protected Area, and push its borders into the Arabian Gulf.” He pointed out that the area of the reserve is 428 square kilometers, and includes 4 islands and the surrounding waters.
But the UAE issued a similar decree in 2019, canceling the previous decree and declaring that the area is a marine reserve with a total area of 2,256 square kilometers, as the Official Gazette attached a map showing the new boundaries of the reserve. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have long-standing border disputes despite the alliance between the two countries, which previously led a military coalition in Yemen, in addition to their agreement to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar, along with Bahrain and Egypt as well. This is a Gulf dispute that ended with the signing of the Al-Ula Agreement in early 2021.
Saudi Arabia submits an official complaint to the United Nations against the UAE due to a border dispute over the Al Yasat region. After its dispute with Iran, will Israel exploit this complaint to ignite the entire Gulf region?! This is what we will know in this episode of the summary channel… Know the story from the beginning
