Saudi Arabia and UAE renew high-level contact as Houthi threat grows

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have renewed high-level contact as a Houthi offensive in Yemen increases pressure on Riyadh and raises concerns over security around a crucial Red Sea shipping route.

UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday, marking the first visit by a senior Emirati official to the kingdom since a serious dispute emerged between the two countries over Yemen.

High-level Saudi-UAE engagement resumes

Saudi and Emirati officials said the talks covered bilateral relations and regional developments. No new joint military strategy for Yemen was officially announced.

The meeting comes as Saudi Arabia confronts a Houthi threat that has expanded beyond missile and drone attacks to include a major push along Yemen’s Red Sea coast towards the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait.

For Riyadh, the UAE remains a potentially important partner because of its ties to southern Yemeni forces, while Abu Dhabi retains influence over factions operating along parts of the coast.

• Saudi Arabia shifts Yemen strategy as Houthi threat grows

Security coordination and Bab al-Mandab

Renewed cooperation could include intelligence-sharing, maritime surveillance, air defence and coordination with Yemeni forces, without necessarily involving the return of Emirati troops to the battlefield.

The stakes extend well beyond Yemen. About 12 per cent of the world’s goods typically pass through Bab al-Mandab, while oil flows through the waterway have fallen sharply. Laden tankers carried about 5.2 million barrels a day through the strait in mid-September, down from 8.8 million in June.

The Houthis have made major gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast in recent weeks, including the capture of the strategic port city of Mokha and nearby islands, according to the Associated Press.

The offensive shattered the relative calm that followed a UN-brokered truce in 2022 and brought Houthi forces closer to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

• Bab al-Mandab emerges as second pressure point in Middle East energy crisis

Houthi pressure on Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has also faced direct attacks. On 19 September, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile towards Riyadh, according to the Saudi-led coalition, which said the missile was intercepted and destroyed.

The coalition also reported attempted attacks on other locations, while the Houthis have claimed strikes against Saudi infrastructure.

The escalation has increased the security pressure on Riyadh as fighting inside Yemen intensifies.

Divisions inside the anti-Houthi camp

The Saudi-UAE dispute over Yemen divided two countries that had previously worked closely in the war against the Houthis. Saudi Arabia backed Yemen’s internationally recognised government, while the UAE developed close ties with southern forces, including the Southern Transitional Council, which has sought greater autonomy or independence for southern Yemen.

The dispute ultimately contributed to the UAE’s withdrawal from Yemen, leaving an already fragmented anti-Houthi camp facing further divisions.

The factions opposing the Houthis share a common enemy but differ sharply over Yemen’s political future. Competing interests among southern and western Yemeni forces have complicated efforts to establish a unified military structure capable of responding to the Houthi advance.

Those divisions are becoming increasingly significant as the Houthis expand their territorial reach.

Wider regional risks

The Houthi advance along Yemen’s western coast has also raised the risk of the country’s conflict becoming more deeply entangled with wider regional tensions involving Iran, the U.S. and Gulf states.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has held talks with Houthi negotiators in Muscat and officials in Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to prevent further escalation.

The UAE’s role in southern Yemen

The UAE has cultivated relationships with southern Yemeni forces that retain significant military capabilities and influence along parts of the country’s coastline. Those forces could play a role in resisting further Houthi advances, but incorporating them into a broader Saudi-backed structure would require competing political objectives to be reconciled.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has sought to consolidate anti-Houthi forces under structures supported by Riyadh. The challenge is that many of the forces needed to counter the Houthis remain divided over Yemen’s future.

Renewed Saudi-Emirati contact therefore comes at a time when military and security coordination could become increasingly important, even as significant political differences remain unresolved.

• Yemen's Houthis claim attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea

Maritime security concerns

The Houthi advance has also intensified concerns over shipping around Bab al-Mandab, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

The group has separately given assurances to the U.S. and European Union that it would not target their vessels, while continuing its campaign against Saudi-linked targets.

That leaves Riyadh and Abu Dhabi facing a complicated security picture. Both have an interest in protecting maritime trade and containing the Houthi advance, but those concerns remain closely tied to the unresolved political struggle over Yemen.

What comes next

The Riyadh meeting may therefore be less about restoring the previous Saudi-Emirati alliance in Yemen and more about finding enough common ground to respond to a rapidly changing security threat.

The two governments have confirmed renewed high-level engagement. Whether that develops into coordinated action in Yemen remains an open question.

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