Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes targeting Emirati equipment unloading at the port of Mukalla in Yemen on Tuesday after accusing its ally of “extremely dangerous” actions, a major escalation in the war-torn nation.
After weeks of high tensions following the Emirati-backed Southern Transition Council’s seizure of eastern Yemen, hopes of de-escalation have collapsed after Riyadh launched airstrikes on Emirati equipment being unloaded at Mukalla on the Gulf of Aden. It coupled its airstrikes with a major ultimatum, demanding the United Arab Emirates remove all its forces from Yemen and cease all financial and military support of all factions in the country within 24 hours.
“The steps taken by the U.A.E. are considered highly dangerous,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned. “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 statement expressed “disappointment” with the actions of the “brotherly” UAE, and encouraged it to abide by “wisdom, the principles of brotherhood,” and “good neighborliness” in accepting the ultimatum.
The ultimatum is almost certainly a nonstarter, with the STC being one of the UAE’s largest and most effective foreign policy commitments.
The UAE was quick to respond, reaffirming its position in Yemen and ignoring the ultimatum. Abu Dhabi voiced its “regret” over Riyadh’s statement, disputing the basis for the Saudi airstrikes by claiming that the armored vehicles being offloaded in Mukalla were only being used by its own forces. It denied the presence of any weapons in the shipment.
Saudi analysts noted that the Emirati denial that the armored vehicles were only for the use of its own forces was unlikely, as the armored vehicles seen being offloaded are primarily used only by its proxy forces and not the military proper.
While not directly responding to the ultimatum, the UAE implicitly rejected it, saying it was in Yemen upon the invitation of the legitimate Yemeni government, and was dedicated to fighting terrorist groups such as “the Houthis, Al-Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The airstrikes against Mukalla itself appeared to do little damage. Videos of the aftermath showed the port still in operation and dozens of UAE armored vehicles reinforcing the STC.
The UAE intelligentsia, meanwhile, already began shifting its rhetoric on Yemen to undercut the legitimacy of the Saudi-led coalition’s government.
“The blatant military assault on a port in the Arabian South is no act of heroism, and the President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council has had his term expire and lost his legitimacy, with his statements belonging in the trash bin,” Emirati political science professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla wrote in a post on X.
After years of being part of an uncomfortable national unity government, the separatist UAE-backed STC launched a sudden offensive on Dec. 2, sweeping aside forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council. The PLC’s troops put up so little a fight that many spectators assumed a prior deal had been reached, the Washington Institute reported, but it became clear after the dust settled that no such deal had been made.
At the offensive’s conclusion, STC forces had seized the regions of Hadramawt and al Mahra, the former bordering Saudi Arabia and the latter bordering Oman. Together, the two provinces constitute roughly half of Yemen’s land mass, though only around 5% of its population. The STC is now in control of over half of Yemen’s land mass and about a third of its population, marking the most sudden territorial shift of the entire 11 1/2-year civil war.
Aside from territorial concerns, the conquered territories are also rich in oil — the STC now has possession of nearly 80% of Yemen’s oil reserves.
Riyadh launched its first airstrikes along its border with Yemen on Friday. The Tuesday airstrikes were noted as much more prominent, with the former believed to be a warning shot.
The final remaining hope for the deteriorating situation is the United States, a close ally of both countries, which has flexed its peacemaking abilities during President Donald Trump’s first year in office.
