The United Arab Emirates has announced the withdrawal of its remaining military personnel from Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a 24-hour ultimatum demanding an Emirati exit, a move that underlines a sharp deterioration in relations between two states that have operated as principal partners in the Yemen war since 2015.
Abu Dhabi’s decision followed a Saudi-led coalition air strike on the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla, which Riyadh said targeted a shipment of weapons and ammunition linked to the UAE. Saudi officials described the operation as a limited strike against what they characterised as unauthorised deliveries intended for distribution in Hadramawt to support allied armed groups. The UAE denied that the cargo contained weapons and said it was surprised by the attack.
The ultimatum was issued by Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. Alimi demanded that Emirati forces leave Yemen within 24 hours and accused the UAE of encouraging the Southern Transitional Council (STC) — a secessionist movement with strong Emirati ties — to destabilise parts of the south and challenge the authority of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
Saudi Arabia, which leads the military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015, framed the alleged Emirati activity as a national security concern. Riyadh described the issue as a “red line”, arguing that the UAE was using Yemeni partners to advance interests towards the kingdom’s borders.
In a statement carried by the Emirati state news agency WAM the UAE Ministry of Defence said it had “voluntarily” ended the mission of its remaining counter-terrorism units in Yemen after a review of recent developments. It said Emirati participation would be limited to specialised personnel for coordination with partners. The announcement effectively closes the last chapter of a phased drawdown that began in 2019, when the UAE pulled most of its forces from Yemen while keeping a smaller counter-terrorism presence.
The rupture brings into the open a long-running divergence in Saudi and Emirati approaches to Yemen’s political settlement. Saudi policy has centred on bolstering the Yemeni government and allied armed forces against the Houthis, the Iran-aligned movement that seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The UAE has cultivated influence in the south through local partners, including the STC, which seeks autonomy or independence for the former South Yemen and has built armed formations that operate alongside, and at times in competition with, forces aligned to the government.
Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province and a key port on the Gulf of Aden, has strategic value as a logistical gateway to Yemen’s east. The Saudi-led coalition said it struck the port after calling on civilians to evacuate, presenting the operation as an interdiction of illicit military supplies. The UAE’s denial of an arms shipment suggests the dispute is as much about control and credibility as about the immediate incident.
Washington moved quickly to contain the fallout. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in an effort to reduce tensions between two key American partners. Regional actors including Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar have also encouraged de-escalation and dialogue, concerned that a dispute between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi could aggravate instability in Yemen and widen uncertainty around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden maritime routes.
The confrontation comes against the background of a war that has repeatedly spilled beyond Yemen’s borders. The Houthis have used missiles and drones against Saudi targets for years, and in the past two years have also launched attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, prompting international naval deployments and higher insurance costs for maritime trade.
Inside Yemen, humanitarian needs remain acute. The European Commission’s humanitarian aid service has said that in 2025 some 19.5 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance and protection services, and that acute food insecurity affects roughly half the population. The UN Development Programme previously estimated that conflict-related deaths reached 377,000 by the end of 2021 when both direct and indirect causes are included, illustrating the scale of the war’s impact even before subsequent rounds of escalation.
For Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, the question now is whether the Emirati departure draws a line under the dispute or merely confirms that they are pursuing incompatible endgames in Yemen. For Yemeni actors, the message is familiar: the balance of power can be reset not only by fighting on the ground, but by disagreements among the outside sponsors who fund, arm and protect rival camps.
