Saudis urge UAE to withdraw forces from Yemen after arms strikes

Omar Tamo, Bloomberg News on Dec 30, 2025

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Saudi Arabia said the United Arab Emirates must withdraw its forces from Yemen and halt support for armed groups operating in the war-torn country, issuing its strongest public rebuke yet of its Gulf ally’s role in the conflict.

The Saudi statement marked the first time it accused its neighbor of endangering its national security since the competing groups they back in Yemen openly fell out six years ago.

The kingdom supports the internationally-recognized government, while the UAE backs the Southern Transitional Council, known as STC, that seeks to establish sovereignty in Yemen’s south.

The Saudi foreign ministry said the UAE’s “dangerous” actions were undermining Yemen’s stability and threatening Saudi Arabia, according to a statement posted on X on Tuesday. It asked the UAE to withdraw all its forces from Yemen within 24 hours, according to the statement.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Saudi statement came shortly after a coalition led by the kingdom said it had struck weapons shipments arriving at a Yemeni port from the UAE.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said the weapons were carried by two ships that arrived in Yemen from the UAE’s port of Fujairah over the weekend to support the STC.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia joined an Arab coalition in 2015, a year after Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. The UAE gradually reduced its participation in the coalition, while the Houthis grew stronger. The rift between the former partners in Yemen burst into public in 2019, when UAE-backed groups captured areas in the south of Yemen including the city of Aden.

The STC has recently seized two other strategic areas including Hadramout, Yemen’s largest province. The group said it sought to cut smuggling routes used by the Houthis.

In an attempt to ease tensions, Saudi Arabia said last week that it agreed with the UAE to send a joint military delegation to supervise the withdrawal of STC forces and restore the authority of the internationally-recognized government.

“The Kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralize any such threat,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in its statement on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said recently that Washington is concerned by the events and urges restraint and continued diplomacy.

The Houthis started attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in 2023 in support of Palestinian militants in Gaza against Israel, disrupting global trade along a key route. Those strikes have eased in recent months, following the October ceasefire in Gaza.

The STC and its affiliates are seeking to reestablish the state of South Yemen, which was unified with the rest of the country in 1990.