August M
Strains inside the Gulf alliance are spilling into the open as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates clash over Yemen, unsettling markets and raising fears of a wider regional fallout.
The dispute underscores how far relations have shifted since the two countries fought side by side earlier in the conflict.
Alliance under strain
Saudi Arabia and the UAE were key partners in the coalition launched in 2015 against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
Although Abu Dhabi began drawing down its troops in 2019, it retained influence through allied southern forces, according to Reuters.
That legacy is now under pressure. The Southern Transitional Council, backed by the UAE, has pushed for self-rule and advanced this month against Saudi-supported Yemeni government troops, breaking years of stalemate and heightening tensions between the Gulf states.
Red line warning
Against that backdrop, Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that its national security was a red line and backed a call for UAE forces to leave Yemen within 24 hours, Reuters reported.
The warning followed a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on the southern port of Mukalla, which Riyadh said targeted foreign military support for UAE-backed factions.
The language marked Saudi Arabia’s strongest public rebuke of Abu Dhabi to date.
Political rupture
Yemen’s Saudi-backed presidential council head, Rashad al-Alimi, cancelled a defence pact with the UAE and accused it of fuelling internal unrest, Yemen’s state news agency said.
In a televised speech cited by Reuters, Alimi said: “Unfortunately, it has been definitively confirmed that the United Arab Emirates pressured and directed the STC to undermine and rebel against the authority of the state through military escalation.”
Saudi Arabia urged the UAE to comply with the withdrawal demand. Abu Dhabi’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond.
Regional impact
The confrontation rattled investor confidence, with major Gulf stock indexes trading lower after the flare-up, Reuters reported.
Alimi also imposed a 72-hour no-fly zone and temporary sea and ground restrictions on ports and crossings, with limited exemptions authorised by the coalition, underscoring the seriousness of the crisis.
Sources: Reuters
