Eliasat Islands; The border challenge between Saudi Arabia and the UAE

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, Saudi Arabia sent a note of protest against the United Arab Emirates government to the United Nations. In its protest note, Riyadh called the action of the Abu Dhabi government in declaring the Ilyasat area as a marine protected area illegal.

Saudi Arabia believes that According to the documents in 1974, during the treaty that recognized the United Arab Emirates, this region has been accepted as a region with shared sovereignty. Saudi Arabia envisions a shared territorial sovereignty over that region, although the UAE considers it to be only Emirati.

The border conflicts of On the side of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates with its neighbors

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, various countries emerged in the West Asian region, which In this development, the southern countries of the Persian Gulf, Jordan and Iraq were born. For this reason, the countries of this region generally face the problems of sovereign borders. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also have serious border problems with their neighbors. Before addressing the border problems of the “Ilyasat” islands, we will address some of the border disputes of these two countries with their other neighbors.

Islands of Tiran and Sanafir:

Riyadh in line with connecting to the Gulf of Aqaba and finding the position Top geopolitics needed the Tiran and Sanafir islands of Egypt to connect with the Zionist regime, simultaneously with the economic problems of Egypt and the economic dominance of Saudi Arabia, at one point they tried to make these two islands their own.

Egyptian cabinet in 2015 after approving the agreement on the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands, which is disputed in Egyptian courts, referred it to the parliament of this country for approval.

This agreement was presented by Riyadh during the last visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Cairo and his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. After this agreement, Abdul Aziz promised to invest billions of dollars in Egypt.
However, after a period of time, the Supreme Administrative Court canceled the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir Islands to Saudi Arabia, which caused the tensions between the two countries to increase.
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Arash gas field

Arash gas field was one of the geo-economic areas that became prominent after the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. After the establishment of relations between Riyadh and Tehran, Arash gas field became headline news due to pressure from the western parties. Some countries tried to turn the Arash gas field into a dispute between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

There are maritime borders between Kuwait and Iran according to the contribution of each of them. Saudi Arabia’s entry into this issue is considered a new conflict in Saudi Arabia’s relations with its neighbors.

United Arab Emirates border dispute with Oman

The most obvious border dispute between the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates related to the region It was Al Barimi that was finally settled based on the agreement reached between the three countries of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Based on this agreement, it was decided that in return for Saudi Arabia’s waiver of this region, a part of the lands of the west of the UAE called Sabkha Moti will be handed over to that country, and therefore the Al Barimi region was divided between the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. In the Al Barimi region, 6 oases were given to the United Arab Emirates and the other three oases were also given to the Sultanate of Oman. p dir=”RTL” style=”text-align:right”>Misunderstandings between the UAE and the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the three islands

Abu Dhabi’s misunderstanding regarding the three islands of Iran from time to time causes this issue to heat up in the public opinion of the countries of the region, the UAE tries to put pressure on Iran by using repeated statements regarding the three islands . The UAE is trying to follow the pressure on Saudi Arabia and Iran to gain territorial gains, considering the atmosphere created in the regional inflammations.

The reasons for the dispute between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh regarding the Ilyasat Islands

Historical reasons: a look A history of the maritime area that is located today between the borders of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which is historically also known as Bani Yas creeks. This city is located on the coast of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and its name is taken from the Bani Yas tribe. It consists of two islands, Upper Yasat in the north and Lower Yasat in the south; In the past, this island was a resting place for Abu Dhabi divers (from the Bani Yas tribe).

According to the 1974 agreement between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, during The acceptance of the territorial sovereignty of the UAE by the King of Saudi Arabia has been written, and it has been emphasized that our islands will become a joint sovereignty between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. But the United Arab Emirates has made this island its exclusive right since 2000 by increasing its activities in these islands and finally by imposing marine protection restrictions.

Geopolitics: This island has an economic and geo-economic role in the region due to its proximity to the Al-Shaibah oil field and its proximity to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Persian Gulf performs. The United Emirates is trying to show its economic and territorial dominance by putting pressure on Saudi Arabia. The industrial fishing that these islands have can witness the deprivation of Saudi Arabia from aspects of commercial tourism and fish.

Regional competition : In addition to the economic advantages that this region has, the main difference between Saudi Arabia and the UAE is in the field of regional competition, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are currently a hidden battle in various areas, including being at the center of the American IMAC corridor, increasing income. National gross domestic product, intervention and show of power in Islamic and African countries, closeness to America, etc. These visible and hidden competitions between the UAE and Saudi Arabia appear from time to time, but this time it has manifested itself in the issue of the Ilyasat Islands. /p>

This island, which has been negotiating between the two sides since 2009, has not reached a conclusion, and after 15 years of negotiations, it has been referred to international proceedings. finds that it shows the deep difference between these two leaders of the Arab world. and England and the UAE’s opportunism to attack Yemen more