Saudi Arabia has announced that it will suspend incoming flights from the United Arab Emirates under the pretext of the rapid spread of the coronavirus, indicating that despite years of unity, there are major differences between the two sides in many regional cases.
On the other hand, after the decision of Riyadh, Emirates Airlines suspended its flights to Saudi Arabia and announced that it has not specified a date for the resumption of flights between the two neighboring countries, members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, until further notice.
The decision is reminiscent of historical records of disputes between the two countries, the most prominent of which, in addition to territorial waters, were border demarcations, areas of influence and oil.
After this, Saudi Arabia took other decisions that show the depth and continuity of this dispute. Riyadh, for example, has amended import laws from other GCC countries to remove goods produced in the free zones or Israeli components from customs preferences.
According to observers, this represents a challenge for the UAE, in which Saudi Arabia competes to attract investors and trade amid the two countries’ divergent and growing interests in other areas, such as their relations with Israel and Turkey.
The embargo on Emirati goods by the Saudis was another of these anti-Emirati measures and shows the continuing differences between the two countries, so that in recent years, Saudi groups and activists have launched electronic campaigns to boycott Emirati products and their industrial areas. Have begun.
The invitation to boycott UAE products became a step to express the anger of the Saudi people against the Saudi plans to weaken the monarchy’s position in the region.
Activists have launched various campaigns under the banner of “Emirati products” and “Jabal Ali boycott” and other calls to boycott products code “629”, which is the barcode of UAE products.
Mentioning the name of the port of Jabal Ali in the boycott campaign of Saudi activists creates the scenario that last night’s explosion is not unrelated to the dispute between the two countries.
In this regard, the Emirati security official close to the investigation team in the incident about the possible connection of this incident with the differences between the two governments and allies, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, stating that he prefers not to slander anyone, stressed that the possibility of this is out of the question. No, but he believes it is unlikely that Emirati officials would make this public if there was such a connection.
