# Saudi-Emirati Rivalry The **Saudi-Emirati rivalry** is the contest between [[Saudi Arabia]] and the [[United Arab Emirates]], the two richest Arab monarchies and two of Washington's closest partners in the Middle East. They went to war together in Yemen in 2015 and blockaded [[Qatar]] together in 2017. Since then they have ended up backing opposing armed forces in Yemen, Sudan and the Horn of Africa. In December 2025 Saudi jets bombed an Emirati arms shipment in a Yemeni port. In October 2026, with the [[Houthis]] advancing on Aden, the two began cooperating again. One research institute titled its assessment "Paused, Not Resolved." > [!note] Related pages > The wars this rivalry runs through are at [[Yemeni Civil War]], [[Sudanese Civil War]], [[Somali Civil War]] and [[Tigray War]]. The two rulers are at [[Mohammed bin Salman]] and [[Mohammed bin Zayed]]. ## What they disagree about **Governments versus clients.** Saudi Arabia's stated rule is to back the internationally recognized government and existing borders. The Emirates' practice has been to build ties with whichever armed force controls a useful port or coastline, whether or not it is the government. Israeli, European and Gulf analysts describe the split in the same terms: Riyadh stresses state sovereignty, while Abu Dhabi is willing to back separatists and opposition forces. | Country | Saudi Arabia backs | The Emirates backs, or is accused of backing | |---|---|---| | Yemen | The recognized government and a united Yemen | The [[Southern Transitional Council]], which wants the south to secede | | [[Sudan]] | The army under [[Abdel Fattah al-Burhan]] | The [[Rapid Support Forces]]. A UN expert panel tracked supply flights; the Emirates denies arming them | | [[Somalia]] | The federal government in Mogadishu | The breakaway region of [[Somaliland]], where an Emirati company runs Berbera port | | [[Ethiopia]] and [[Eritrea]] | Has drawn closer to Eritrea | Ethiopia's federal government under [[Abiy Ahmed]] | **Oil.** The Emirates left [[OPEC]], which Saudi Arabia leads, on May 1, 2026, after 59 years, saying it wanted freedom from export caps. **Money and standing.** The Emirati economy is nearly half the size of Saudi Arabia's with a fraction of the population, and its sovereign funds together are richer than the Saudi [[Public Investment Fund]]. The Emirates had a head start of two decades or more in travel, tourism and entertainment, the sectors Riyadh is now spending to build. **Iran and Israel.** Saudi Arabia has taken a more conciliatory line toward [[Iran]]. The Emirates treats Iran as an immediate threat and, since the [[Abraham Accords]], has been [[Israel]]'s closest Gulf partner. Saudi officials read Emirati and Israeli moves in Somaliland and southern Yemen as coordinated, and as a form of encirclement. ## Timeline | Date | Event | |---|---| | Mar 2015 | Both join the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis | | Jun 2017 | Both cut ties with Qatar | | 2019 | The Emirates withdraws most of its troops from Yemen. Its southern allies seize Aden from the Saudi-backed government in August; Riyadh brokers a power-sharing deal in November | | Nov 18, 2025 | Mohammed bin Salman visits the White House and raises Sudan. Later that month [[Donald Trump]] phones Mohammed bin Zayed about the conversation | | Early Dec 2025 | Emirati-backed separatists seize Hadramawt and al-Mahra, the Yemeni provinces along the Saudi border | | Dec 26, 2025 | Israel recognizes Somaliland. The Emirates declines to join the joint Arab and Islamic statement condemning it | | Dec 30, 2025 | Saudi jets bomb weapons and vehicles at Mukalla port that Riyadh says came from the Emirates. Yemen's government cancels its defense pact with the Emirates and gives its forces 24 hours to leave. The Emirates announces a full withdrawal | | Jan 2–9, 2026 | Saudi-backed forces retake the south under Saudi air cover. The separatist leader flees to Abu Dhabi, by way of Somaliland according to the Saudi-led coalition; his movement's dissolution is announced from Riyadh and disputed by his colleagues | | Jan 12, 2026 | Somalia cancels every agreement with the Emirates, covering ports, defense and security | | Feb 9, 2026 | Saudi Arabia and Somalia sign a military cooperation agreement | | Feb 14–15, 2026 | The rivalry overshadows the African Union summit, Reuters reports | | Feb 28, 2026 | The [[Iran War 2026]] begins. Gulf oil exporters come under missile and drone fire | | Apr 2026 | Axios reports Emirati–Israeli air-defense cooperation during the war. On April 28 the Emirates announces it is leaving OPEC | | Jul 2026 | Businesses report Saudi banks delaying or blocking payments to Emirati accounts. On July 21 the two governments' media chiefs post matching statements of unity | | Aug 7, 2026 | Saudi Arabia signs a mutual-defense pact in Mecca with Turkey and Pakistan, not with its Gulf neighbor | | Sep 2026 | The Houthis take Yemen's Red Sea coast. War resumes in northern Ethiopia; the Emirates publicly backs Addis Ababa on September 25 | | Oct 17–18, 2026 | *The Guardian* reports the Emirates will resume paying southern Yemeni units while Saudi Arabia provides air cover. The Saudi defense minister meets Mohammed bin Zayed the next day | ## The phone call The sharpest account of how the break widened comes from *The New York Times*, published February 27, 2026. It reported that after the Saudi crown prince's White House visit, Trump called the Emirati president and told him the Saudis had asked for American sanctions on the Emirates over its support for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces. Two people briefed on the call said Trump told him his friends were out to get him but that Trump had his back. Saudi officials say the request was for sanctions on the Sudanese paramilitary, not on the Emirates, and a Trump administration official told the *Times* the crown prince never asked for sanctions on the Emirates. The Emirates "categorically rejects" that it has given the paramilitary material support. Within weeks of the call the two countries' clients were fighting each other in Yemen. ## The pause The Houthi offensive of autumn 2026 gave both monarchies a common problem. Houthi missiles hit Saudi airports and oil facilities, and Houthi fighters closed to within 80 kilometers of Aden by November 2. The reported arrangement is narrow: Emirati money for the Giants Brigades and other southern units it used to fund, Saudi aircraft overhead. Nothing in it settles whether southern Yemen stays in Yemen, and the separatists have said they will not fight outside the old southern borders without a promise of an independence referendum. Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia are untouched by it. ## Why it's on the map Both governments are in business with the president's family. Saudi money backs [[Jared Kushner]]'s [[Affinity Partners]] (see [[Kushner Affinity Partners Saudi Investment]]), and a vehicle backed by the Emirati national security adviser, [[Tahnoon bin Zayed]], bought 49% of the Trump family's crypto company (see [[World Liberty Financial UAE Sale]]). When the two patrons' clients go to war with each other, in Yemen directly and in Sudan through the army on one side and a paramilitary the United States has found committed genocide on the other, the president is refereeing between two governments his family does business with. The wiki records the timing. The rivalry also explains why the wars along the Red Sea do not end. Each has a local cause, but each side in each war has a wealthy sponsor with no reason to let its client lose, and the sponsors sit on opposite sides. The route from there to American [[Gas Prices]] runs through the [[Bab el-Mandeb]]. ## See Also - [[Saudi Arabia]] · [[United Arab Emirates]] · [[Mohammed bin Salman]] · [[Mohammed bin Zayed]] · [[Tahnoon bin Zayed]] - [[Yemeni Civil War]] · [[Southern Transitional Council]] · [[Houthis]] · [[Sudanese Civil War]] · [[Rapid Support Forces]] - [[Somalia]] · [[Somaliland]] · [[Ethiopia]] · [[Eritrea]] · [[Egypt]] · [[Qatar]] · [[Turkey]] - [[Saudi Influence]] · [[Emirati Influence]] · [[OPEC]] · [[Proxy War]] · [[Bab el-Mandeb]]