Saudi Arabia will limit Lebanese immigration in the Kingdom amidst the unprecedented Lebanon-Gulf Crisis.
The KSA decided to grant only humanitarian visas to Lebanese citizens, MTV reported on Thursday.
Kuwait also decided to implement visa restrictions by suspending tourist visas for Lebanese citizens.
The diplomatic crisis between Lebanon and Arab Gulf countries is escalating with those new restrictions on Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia has already cut its diplomatic ties with Lebanon when it earlier recalled its ambassador and expelled the Lebanese ambassador. It has also cut its trade relation with Lebanon when it banned Lebanese imports.
These severe measures came as a reaction to the Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi declaring his support for Houthis in the Yemen war.
Kordahi’s stance sparked outrage in the Saudi Kingdom and provoked its boycotting positions, which were quickly followed by Kuwait, UAE, and Bahrain.
The crisis between Lebanon and these Arab Gulf countries, while sparked by Kordahi’s personal opinions, is the outcome of a more complicated situation that has Hezbollah at the base, and its sponsor Iran.
The Lebanon-Gulf Crisis is part of the long-existing conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and it isn’t the first time Lebanon pays the heavy cost of regional conflicts.
This comes at a time when Lebanon is wrecked by multiple crises, including economically, and it cannot afford to be also cut off from its historical Sunni ally and economic partner in the region.
