Growing rift between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi reflected in Yemen’s crisis
A consultative meeting of Yemeni political leaders, elders, and senior figures opened in the Saudi capital to discuss the country's future, a response to recent tensions between pro-Saudi government forces and Emirati-backed separatists. The conflict highlights divergent regional interests. Meanwhile, food security is becoming more precarious as an additional million people are at risk of “life-threatening hunger.”
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – After pro-Saudi government forces and separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) clashed in southern Yemen, with rising tensions between the two Gulf powers, action is underway at the diplomatic level to stabilise a country that has been the scene of a brutal war for over a decade.
Against this background, a consultative meeting opened yesterday in Riyadh, bringing together political and religious leaders, elders and senior figures from southern Yemen.
In a note released yesterday on the sidelines of the meeting, organisers stressed how the meeting reflects the “collective will to search for a just, secure and guaranteed solution” moving “away from escalation or attempts to create secondary conflicts that do not serve the South and its future.”
Reiterating the close ties between Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and Saudi Arabia, the meeting participants praised Riyadh’s “clear” support for their cause, as evinced in a statement read by PLC member Abou Zaraa Al-Mahrami.
Saudi positions, the statement reads, “align completely with the just demands of the people of the South and back their right to reach a comprehensive political solution that guarantees their dignity, security, stability and future without preconditions or political demands.”
Al-Mahrami warns that the Saudi-sponsored dialogue between southern leaders and groups is a “rare historic opportunity that should not be squandered or undermined through sparking internal southern disputes.”
In fact, Saudi initiatives should not be opposed or tensions with Riyadh instigated, because this ends up benefiting “the parties that are opposed to our cause.”
PLC representatives gathered in Riyadh finally promised that no one will be marginalised and that the “real danger” lies “in the Houthi militias and their expansionist agendas”, in addition to the threats posed by the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda.
Observers point out that Yemen has become a flashpoint in the dispute between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), fuelling a confrontation that parallels the ongoing conflict between the government and pro-Iranian Houthi rebels, who control the Yemeni capital Sana'a and the north.
An in-depth study published in the World Politics Review (WPR) explains how towards the end of 2025 the “quiet tensions bubbling beneath the surface” between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, once allies, suddenly burst in a “very public clash”.
“Their rift had been growing behind the scenes for years before it exploded in public, raising concerns about a relationship with enormous geopolitical importance.”
The many disagreements extend far beyond Yemen. Divergent policies behind the scenes escalated into public threats on 30 December, when Saudi Arabia gave the United Arab Emirates just 24 hours to withdraw its troops from Yemen and end its support for the Southern Transitional Council.
The latter, which is opposed to both the Houthis in the north and the Saudis in the south, is seeking to create southern Yemen. By contrast, Riyadh supports the country's internationally recognised government in its effort to re-establish control over a unified Yemen.
The conflict between the Saudi kingdom and the UAE, both flushed with money and well-armed, has major implications for the region, from the Gulf to East Africa, touching areas of great concern for the United States and the international community.
Rising tensions are particularly surprising given the history of closeness between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) and Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ).
Indeed, MbZ was once seen as MbS’s mentor, after establishing him on the international stage and earning him the support of US President Donald Trump during his first term in the White House.
Saudi Arabia boasts a much larger territory, larger oil reserves, a stronger army, and influence in the Arab and Muslim world. For its part, the UAE has a more developed and internationally integrated economy and a powerful network of diplomatic relations, with the two countries complementing each other until things began to change.
The two leaders began to have different visions and perspectives, while the ties and interests of the two countries began to deviate, while “disagreements started multiplying,” writes the WPR.
“Today, the two monarchs have turned their countries into regional rivals, each seeking to shape their unstable region’s future, with numerous areas of significant disagreement.”
“The rift over Yemen is just one of many” because opposing views are also emerging in other areas, from Sudan to Somalia, while Riyadh has renewed alliances and partnerships with Qatar, once a sworn enemy.
The “overarching policy, the growing distance between Saudi Arabia and the UAE is already manifesting itself on the ground and affecting armed conflicts in the region,” and “more surprises” can be expected this year.
Meanwhile, a new crisis looms over Yemen after the International Rescue Committee (IRC) reported on a disastrous humanitarian situation which the latest tensions and clashes have contributed to worsen with people who “are starving in silence”.
Yemen is entering a “dangerous new phase of food security” with more than half the population, 18 million people, who could “face worsening levels of food insecurity in early 2026.”
The latest projections from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warn that an additional one million people are at risk of “life-threatening hunger (IPC Phase 3+).”
The “People of Yemen still remember when they didn’t know where their next meal would come from. I fear we are returning to this dark chapter again,” says Caroline Sekyewa, IRC Country Director in Yemen.
“What distinguishes the current deterioration is its speed and trajectory. Food insecurity in Yemen is no longer a looming risk; it is a daily reality forcing parents into impossible choices.”
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