UAE Pulls Out of Yemen as Saudi Airstrikes and Ultimatums Shatter Gulf Alliance

By: Fern Sidman

By any measure, the Saudi-led coalition’s decision to bomb a shipment linked to its closest Arab ally is an extraordinary act. Yet that is precisely what transpired on Tuesday when Saudi Arabia carried out a targeted airstrike in the Yemeni port city of Mukalla, destroying vehicles the United Arab Emirates had shipped into the country. Within hours, Abu Dhabi announced it was withdrawing its remaining military forces from Yemen, a decision that reverberated across the region and, as The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported on Tuesday, exposed one of the deepest strategic fractures in the Arab world in years.

The incident marks the most serious public rupture between Saudi Arabia and the UAE since the outbreak of Yemen’s civil war nearly a decade ago. While tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have simmered for years beneath the surface, the Mukalla strike has brought those disagreements into the open, threatening to upend the already fragile equilibrium in a conflict that has devastated Yemen and destabilized the wider Red Sea basin.

According to the information provided in the JNS report, Saudi officials stated that Emirati vessels had departed from the port of Fujairah on the UAE’s eastern coast carrying weapons and armored vehicles destined for Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist faction that seeks to resurrect an independent South Yemen. Brigadier General Turki al-Malki, the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman, described the shipment as an “imminent threat” and said Saudi aircraft had conducted a “limited airstrike” on the offloaded vehicles in Mukalla.

Riyadh characterized the move as a necessary pre-emptive action, asserting that the delivery constituted a destabilizing escalation that imperiled both the Yemeni government and regional security. The JNS report noted that Saudi officials went so far as to label the Emirati action “highly dangerous,” an unusually blunt rebuke for a partner with whom they have shared battlefields from Yemen to the Horn of Africa.

Within hours, Yemen’s internationally recognized government — backed by Saudi Arabia — demanded that all remaining Emirati forces leave the country, a call the Saudi foreign ministry immediately endorsed. Abu Dhabi, confronted with the prospect of a direct confrontation with Riyadh, announced that it would comply.

The UAE’s response, as reported by JNS, was one of controlled indignation. Its defense ministry said its presence in Yemen had already been reduced to a skeletal force focused exclusively on counterterrorism operations, following its major troop drawdown in 2019. The shipment, Abu Dhabi insisted, was mischaracterized.

“The vehicles unloaded were not intended for any Yemeni party,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement cited by JNS. “They were shipped for use by UAE forces operating in Yemen.” It added that there had been “high-level coordination” with Saudi Arabia regarding the shipment and that both sides had agreed the vehicles would remain in the port. The airstrike therefore came as a shock.

The Emirati statement struck a diplomatic balance — denying wrongdoing while carefully avoiding direct accusations — yet its subtext was unmistakable: Abu Dhabi felt blindsided by a supposed ally.

To grasp the magnitude of this rupture, the JNS report explained, one must understand Yemen’s increasingly fragmented political landscape. The Houthis, an Iran-aligned militia, continue to control the capital Sana’a and much of the western coastline, including areas from which they have launched missile and drone attacks on Red Sea shipping. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) lurks in remote provinces, exploiting the vacuum of governance.

Complicating matters further is the Southern Transitional Council. Backed openly by the UAE, the STC has consolidated its grip over much of eastern Yemen, including the oil-rich provinces of Hadramawt and al-Mahra, which it seized earlier this month. The STC’s ambition to carve out a sovereign southern state has placed it at odds with the Yemeni government — and by extension with Saudi Arabia, which continues to support Yemen’s territorial integrity.

This three-sided struggle has transformed Yemen into a geopolitical labyrinth, where allies are often adversaries in all but name. As the JNS report observed, the Saudi-Emirati split over the STC has long been the coalition’s unspoken Achilles’ heel.

For much of the war, Saudi Arabia and the UAE presented a united front. Saudi jets dominated the skies, while Emirati forces spearheaded ground operations against the Houthis and jihadist factions. Yet beneath the surface, their strategic priorities diverged.

The Saudis have invested heavily in propping up Yemen’s central government, hoping to preserve a unified state that can counter Iranian influence. The Emiratis, by contrast, have cultivated local militias and political movements — chief among them the STC — that favor decentralization or outright secession.

The JNS report noted that this divergence has only deepened since 2019, when Abu Dhabi dramatically reduced its ground presence in Yemen, declaring its objectives largely achieved. Riyadh, however, remained mired in a grinding air campaign that has drawn international criticism for civilian casualties and limited military gains.

Beyond strategy, personal dynamics have further strained the relationship. JNS cited reporting indicating a growing rivalry between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ). Once viewed as a mentor to the younger Saudi prince, MBZ now finds himself dealing with a more assertive Riyadh determined to assert regional primacy.

The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that MBS resents what he perceives as Abu Dhabi’s disproportionate influence, particularly in shaping security policy in the Gulf and the Horn of Africa. The Mukalla incident may be less an isolated miscalculation than a symptom of this broader power struggle.

The consequences of the Saudi-Emirati rupture extend far beyond Yemen. As the JNS report emphasized, the coalition’s unity has been a cornerstone of efforts to counter Iranian influence, disrupt arms smuggling routes, and contain jihadist networks. A breakdown in coordination could provide the Houthis with unprecedented breathing room — and by extension, Tehran with a stronger foothold along the Red Sea.

Moreover, the STC’s recent territorial gains in eastern Yemen now appear more precarious. If Abu Dhabi fully disengages militarily, the separatists may find themselves isolated, vulnerable to pressure from both the Yemeni government and Houthi forces.

Thus far, the Trump administration has refrained from publicly intervening. Still, JNS reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday to discuss the “ongoing tensions in Yemen” and their implications for regional stability.

The silence from Washington belies unease. The United States has invested considerable diplomatic capital in stitching together a regional security architecture that hinges on cooperation between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. A prolonged rift could complicate U.S. efforts to stabilize the Red Sea corridor, safeguard maritime trade, and counter Iran.

What makes the Mukalla episode so consequential is that it is not merely a dispute over a shipment of vehicles. As the JNS report underscored, it is the crystallization of years of mistrust, misaligned ambitions and personal rivalries between two of the Middle East’s most powerful states.

Yemen’s civil war has always been a proxy battleground, drawing in regional actors with competing visions. Now, for the first time, those competing visions have produced open confrontation between supposed allies.

In the weeks ahead, diplomats will scramble to patch over the rupture, invoking the familiar lexicon of “brotherly relations” and “shared security concerns.” Yet the damage is done. Saudi jets have struck Emirati assets. Abu Dhabi has pulled its remaining forces from Yemen. The veneer of coalition unity has shattered.

One conclusion is inescapable: the Yemen war has entered a new and more unpredictable phase — not because of the Houthis or Tehran, but because the coalition meant to defeat them is now fighting itself.