Riyadh appears increasingly frustrated with changes in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia led an intervention there against the Houthis in 2015. Over the past several years, however, it has preferred the status quo in Yemen, as it has patched things up with Iran. It is not interested in more instability.
The challenge for Riyadh now is that the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which controls areas in Aden and southern Yemen, has been making gains on the ground. The STC is seen as being backed by the UAE.
Although the UAE and Saudi Arabia share many interests in the region, they do not always agree on Yemen.
Riyadh now appears increasingly angry at what is happening in Yemen.
“Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s government, urges separatists to withdraw from seized provinces,” France 24 reported Sunday.
“Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it would back Sanaa’s government in any military confrontation with separatist forces in a statement that came a day after reported Saudi airstrikes in Yemen’s Hadhramaut province,” the report said.
“The STC separatists, backed by the United Arab Emirates, have recently made territorial gains, embarrassing regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.”
Saudi Arabia-based newspaper Arab News published several articles highlighting rising concern in Riyadh.
“Concern is mounting that Yemen is sliding toward a de facto partition, with rival authorities consolidating control over separate regions,” one analysis said.
Saudia Arabia responds to tensions in Yemen
“In the south, the STC has expanded its footprint, while Iran-backed Houthi forces remain firmly entrenched in the north,” it said. “Those fears have intensified in recent weeks, driven by the STC’s latest military operation and the widening Red Sea conflict. Together, they raise a central question: Will Yemen’s decade-long war end in reconciliation, or fracture into competing statelets?”
“On December 23, Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, the executive body of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, warned that unilateral actions by the STC were pushing the country toward a dangerous tipping point,” Arab News reported.
Saudi Arabian officials are speaking up.
“Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud called on the STC to respond to Saudi-Emirati mediation efforts and de-escalate tensions in eastern Yemen, urging the group to withdraw its forces from camps in Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra and hand them over peacefully to local authorities,” Arab News reported.
Saudi Arabia’s intervention came at the request of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and aimed to restore state authority across the country through the Decisive Storm and Restoring Hope operations, Saud wrote on X/Twitter.
“He said the kingdom has consistently treated the southern issue as a ‘just political cause’ that must be resolved through dialogue and consensus, citing the Riyadh Conference and Riyadh Agreement as frameworks that ensured southern participation in governance and rejected the use of force,” Arab News reported.
This comes as Riyadh also appears concerned about Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.
Somaliland is near Yemen, just across the Gulf of Aden. As such, Riyadh sees both the changes on the ground in Yemen and the recognition as shifting the status quo.
Riyadh is conservative and prefers change to occur gradually.
Another Arab News article reflected Riyadh’s thinking on Somaliland.
“While several nations, including the UK, Ethiopia, [Turkey], and the UAE, have maintained liaison offices in the capital of Hargeisa, none have been willing to cross the Rubicon of formal state recognition,” the report said
“It perhaps comes as no surprise to seasoned regional observers that Israel has become the first and only UN member state to formally recognize the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign nation,” it added.
“Israel’s decision to break this decades-long international consensus is a deliberate departure from the status quo,” Arab News reported. “By taking this step, Israel has positioned itself as the primary benefactor of a state that has long sought a seat at the international table. As Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama, the ambassador of Djibouti to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News, such a move is deeply disruptive.”