Billboards depicting Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Aden, Yemen, December 30, 2025. | Photo credit: FAWAZ SALMAN
“In light of recent developments and their potential implications for the security and effectiveness of counter-terrorism missions,” the UAE will withdraw the remaining personnel “on its own accord,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Abu Dhabi had previously denied Riyadh’s accusations that it was directing a separatist group in southern Yemen in a way that threatened the kingdom’s border, a dispute that has exposed a sometimes fractious relationship between the two oil-rich neighbors. Saudi Arabia demanded the UAE withdraw troops from Yemen and end support for armed groups in the country, where the pair supports rival factions.
The exchange followed airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni port of Mukalla, targeting what it called an arms shipment from the UAE’s Fujairah port in support of the Abu Dhabi-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which wants to establish sovereignty in southern Yemen.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country’s priorities in Yemen are “to support the restoration of legitimacy and combat terrorism, while fully respecting the sovereignty of the Republic of Yemen.” It said the shipment to Mukalla included vehicles for use by UAE troops.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE support rival political groups in Yemen, which sits at the crossroads of vital shipping routes and on the edge of a major energy exporting region. Growing divisions between the two have stalled peace efforts in the country, which has been embroiled in conflict since Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sana’a in 2014.
Riyadh supports the internationally recognized government, while the UAE supports the STC. The Houthis maintain control of about a third of the country’s territory and carried out intermittent bombings of shipping in the Red Sea after the outbreak of the war in Gaza in 2023.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE were part of a coalition formed in 2015 to fight the Houthis, resulting in a long war that claimed nearly 400,000 lives. The UAE gradually reduced its participation as the Houthis grew stronger and a provisional ceasefire was agreed in 2022.
Tensions spiked this month after the STC took control of two provinces, including Hadramout, Yemen’s largest province near the border with Saudi Arabia. The group said it wanted to cut off the Houthis’ smuggling routes.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE – both power players vying for regional influence – have largely aligned on foreign policy in the Middle East, including in Syria and Gaza. Both have embraced Syria’s new president, Ahmed Al Sharaa, and called for the creation of a Palestinian state as a solution to the conflict with the Israelis.
But the two are also competitors: They are key members of the OPEC+ alliance and have disagreed in the past over the UAE’s oil production quotas as they compete for foreign investment in the drive to diversify their economies. US President Donald Trump has courted both by visiting Abu Dhabi and Riyadh earlier this year to secure billions of dollars in investment pledges.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington is concerned about recent events and urged restraint and diplomacy.
In its statement, Saudi Arabia said it hopes the UAE will “take the necessary steps to maintain bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, which the Kingdom is keen to strengthen.”
–With help from Omar Tamo.
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Published on December 31, 2025
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