An Egyptian state advisory council has reiterated that some disputed Red Sea islands are Egyptian, not Saudi Arabian. The move deals a blow to a Saudi-Egypt deal that would have granted the crisis-stricken country billions of dollars in Saudi aid.
The recommendation upholds a court decision annulling an agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia that grants the kingdom control over two Red Sea islands.
The agreement, which was made in April of 2015, would give the uninhabited Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia. In exchange, Saudi Arabia would provide Egypt with billions of aid.
But after the agreement was made, protests erupted and legal challenges to the agreement surfaced. Here's what you should know about the islands.
1. Ownership of the islands has been disputed for years
Control of Tiran and Sanafir has shifted several times over the past century.
Some say the islands always belonged to Saudi Arabia and others say they always belonged to Egypt. Both sides claim to have legal documents and agreements to support their claims.
Some experts say that Egypt legally established its territorial claim to the islands in an agreement with the Ottoman Empire in 1906. Egypt clarified these claims in 1954 before the United Nations.
But others claim that Egypt merely took control of the islands in 1949, at the beckoning of Saudi Arabia.
Expecting trouble during the turbulent years of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Saudi Arabia asked Egypt to protect the islands from Israeli invasion. Egypt agreed to the request but lost control of Tiran to Israel when it was militarily taken over by Israeli forces.
Tiran returned to Egyptian control in 1982, fulfilling a key part of Egypt's peace agreement with the Israeli government. Due to the peace agreement's terms, Israel also had to sign off on the Egyptian government's decision to hand the islands over to Saudi control.
2. Many Egyptians were outraged by the decision to transfer the islands Saudi Arabian control
When the decision was made, people took to social media and the streets to protest. They claimed Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was selling their country to Saudi Arabia.
"Every country that wants a piece of the cake can come and take it, the important thing is whether it will pay in euros, dollars, Saudi riyals or by shekel."
Egyptian soldiers have died to return Tiran from Israel's annexation, some point out.
"Egyptian public opinion refuses to give up Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia in return for its support, they are pure Egyptian islands and the sons of the army paid their price with their lives during the war."
Legal proceedings to block the Egyptian government's decision moved forward. In June, Egypt's Higher Administrative Court annulled the agreement. It ruled that Egypt's sovereignty over the islands could not be simply given up.
Although the government appealed, the state advisory body reviewing the case has now recommend the court's original decision be upheld.
3. The agreement would have benefitted Egypt financially
Saudi Arabia had agreed to give billions of dollars in aid to Egypt as part of the deal. Additionally, the kingdom planned to build a causeway across the Red Sea via Tiran, connecting the two nations. The bridge would enhance trade and tourism between the two countries.
The landmark deal also included Saudi Arabia signing a $1.5 billion investment for housing in Sinai and agreeing to finance five years' worth of Egypt's petroleum needs at an optimal two percent interest rate.
4. The islands dispute may be why Saudi Arabia cut oil shipments
The legal controversy surrounding the agreement has raised tensions between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In November, Saudi Arabia officially announced that it had stopped sending the promised oil to Egypt.
Shipments ceased as of October. An official from Egypt's oil ministry said no reason had been given for halting the deliveries. But the controversy over the islands as well as other snubs by Egypt's government appear to be souring relations between the two countries.
Egypt recently supported a UN Security Council resolution on Syria that was strongly opposed by Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian government has also refused to join Saudi Arabia's coalition fighting against Iranian-backed Houthis rebels in Yemen.
After having given tens of billion in support and aid to President Sisi's government, Riyadh appears to view Egypt as an ungrateful friend.
5. Egypt appears unconcerned with maintaining Saudi patronage
A source close to Egypt's Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said that the minister would visit Iran – Saudi Arabia's main regional rival – to make a new oil deal in November, according to Reuters. But, as the news became public, Molla denied plans to visit Tehran. An Iranian oil official also denied the reports.
Two security sources and the source in Molla's delegation told Reuters that the minister had been scheduled to visit Iran, but had delayed the visit after the news became public. Iran and Egypt have had a strained relationship since the 1970s, meaning any oil deal would be a dramatic shift in policy between the two nations.
Egypt has already signed a memorandum of understanding to import oil from Iraq, a regional ally of Iran.
With the recent acquisition of a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, Egypt may be feeling less reliant on the benevolence of Riyadh. As of late, it definitely hasn't shown the cooperation Saudi Arabia would have expected after opening its pockets so generously.