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In Middle East, Virus Woes Succeed Where Diplomacy Falls Short

In Middle East, Virus Woes Succeed Where Diplomacy Falls Short

(Bloomberg) --

The coronavirus pandemic has done something quiet diplomacy has sometimes failed at -- easing hostilities between Middle East rivals.

The United Arab Emirates sent a second delivery of humanitarian aid across the Gulf to Iran, the country worst hit by the virus outside of China. And the Israeli military has reported a drop in violence by the country’s enemies.

Iran, with more than 16,000 confirmed cases and 988 dead, is struggling to deal with the rapidly spreading disease as its economy groans under the weight of crippling U.S. sanctions. To help it cope, the U.A.E. flew in 32 metric tons of supplies, including thousands of pairs of gloves, surgical masks, and protective equipment, its state media reported.

The U.A.E. is a global travel hub and home to a large Iranian expatriate population.

Tensions rose between the two countries last year after attacks on oil assets in the Gulf, including on tankers off the U.A.E. coast, which Washington blamed on Iran. Tehran denied involvement. The two countries also back different sides in the Yemen war and regularly trade accusations against each other in local media, although there have been steps to deescalate.

In a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif this week, U.A.E. Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed offered his condolences to the Iranian people for the victims of the pandemic, and said the U.A.E. would support them in the crisis.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, reported a decrease in enemy activity due to the virus’s spread, the Jerusalem Post cited armed forces spokesman Brigadier-General Hidai Zilberman as saying. Without referring to Iran by name, the spokesman said “there are enemy countries that have been hit much stronger than us by corona, and therefore their activities have decreased,” the newspaper reported.

At the same time, there haven’t been any reports in the past three weeks of Israeli military attacks on Iranian targets in Syria.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.