Saudis and Emirates are at loggerheads over various dossiers: from Yemen to Sudan, via the Horn of Africa. A situation that risks compromising the revival of the Abraham Accords, supported by the White House
The rivalry between is growing Saudi Arabia and Arab Emirates: a worrying circumstance Washington. The casus belli took place in the intricate context of war in Yemen. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have historically been allies in supporting the Yemeni government against the Houthisbacked byIran. However, Emirati support for the separatists of the Southern Transitional Council has progressively irritated the Saudis, who, on Tuesday, bombed the port of Mukalla. According to Riyadh, war material sent from Abu Dhabi in support of the separatists had entered this facility: an accusation which, however, was rejected by the Emirates. Emirates who then announced the withdrawal of their personnel anti-terrorism from Yemen. “In light of recent developments and their potential implications for the security and effectiveness of counter-terrorism missions, the Ministry of Defense announces the dismissal of counter-terrorism personnel remaining in Yemen on its own initiative, so as to ensure the safety of its personnel,” the Emirati government said.
Sudan, opposing alliances in the civil war
But be careful: the Yemeni crisis represents only one of the fronts of friction between Riad And Abu Dhabi. In fact, the two capitals appear increasingly at loggerheads Sudan. Here, in the complicated context of the venue civil warthe Saudis support the Sudanese Armed Forceswhile the Emirates support the Rapid Support Forces. Let’s remember that Mohammad bin Salman expressed his concerns about the situation in Sudan a Donald Trump during his recent trip to Washington.
Horn of Africa and Somaliland, new regional tensions
A further friction front is then linked to Horn of Africa. Abu Dhabi has strengthened its relations with Ethiopia And Somalilandwhile Saudi Arabia has focused more on Somalia. Not surprisingly, Riyadh has criticized the recent Israeli recognition of Somaliland.
The Abraham Accords and the US balance
In short, the rivalry between Saudis and Emirates continues to grow. And this potentially represents a problem for theTrump administrationwhich aims to relaunch and expand the Abraham Accords: agreements to which the Emirates joined in 2020 and with respect to which the Saudis have not completely dissolved their reservations. Washington he is therefore trying to prevent the relationship between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi from derailing. It is probably no coincidence that, on Tuesday, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with the Emirati Foreign Minister and another with the Saudi one. Moreover, the Trump administration needs relations between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to remain strong, also to maintain pressure onIran in reference to the thorny issue of nuclear. For Washington, the situation is therefore very delicate: its project is at stake stabilization of the entire Middle Eastern region.
