Saudi Arabia and UAE clash over Yemen separatist gains

Tuesday 30 December 2025 - 09:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Saudi Arabia and UAE clash over Yemen separatist gains

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, once steadfast allies in Yemen's civil war, now face a deepening rift as their conflicting agendas threaten to upend regional stability. Riyadh issued its sharpest rebuke yet on Tuesday, labeling UAE support for separatist advances a direct threat to Saudi national security. The kingdom's foreign ministry decried the actions as "highly dangerous," vowing to defend its borders as a non-negotiable red line.

Tensions spiked after a Saudi-led coalition airstrike targeted weapons shipments at Yemen's Mukalla port, which officials claimed arrived from the UAE's Fujairah port destined for separatist forces. In response, Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council terminated its defense agreement with the UAE and ordered all Emirati troops to withdraw within 24 hours. The UAE foreign ministry has remained silent amid the escalating war of words.

The fracture stems from divergent strategies in the decade-old conflict against Iran-backed Houthi rebels. While Saudi Arabia bolsters Yemen's recognized government, the UAE champions the Southern Transitional Council, a separatist group eyeing the revival of pre-1990 South Yemen. The STC's recent sweep through oil-rich Hadramout and Mahra governorates has positioned its fighters along Saudi Arabia's southern frontier, controlling nearly all populated areas of former South Yemen.

Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al-Alimi proclaimed a 90-day state of emergency, blaming UAE pressure on the STC for stoking division and eroding central authority. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki detailed the airstrike's hit on two vessels loaded with arms and combat vehicles. As fractures widen among anti-Houthi factions, the war sparked by the 2014 Houthi takeover of Sanaa shows no sign of resolution despite global mediation attempts.