In the latest development in tensions, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have urged their citizens not to travel to Lebanon. While the Saudi and Bahraini foreign ministries strongly encouraged their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible for safety reasons, the UAE went as far as issuing a complete ban on Emiratis traveling to the country.
This comes days after Saudi Arabia announced it was halting a $4 billion military aid deal to Lebanon in reaction to Lebanon not condemning the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran last month, according to the BBC.
The Saudi embassy in Tehran was stormed in January after the kingdom executed a prominent Shia cleric.
Saad al-Hariri, a Lebanese Sunni politician, asked King Salman of Saudi Arabia “not to abandon Lebanon and to continue to support and embrace it”, adding that his country would “not be a protectorate for Iranian policies in the region.”
The UAE has also announced that it will remove all its diplomats from Beirut.
“The UAE fully supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's decision to halt its aid to the Lebanese army and security forces,” a statement by the UAE’s foreign ministry said.
"At the same time [the UAE] calls upon Lebanon and its people to restore Lebanon to the Arab Nation where it belongs, away from the Iranian influences adopted by the so-called Hezbollah," the statement continued.
It is expected that other Saudi allies may join the kingdom is reducing diplomatic ties with Lebanon.
