Political chaos in Yemen triggers Saudi Arabia security worries
The Southern Transition Council (STC) is seen as being backed by the UAE. Although the UAE and Saudi Arabia share many regional interests, they do not always agree on Yemen.
Since Saudi Arabia led an intervention in Yemen against the Houthis in 2015, it has preferred the status quo remain intact, as it has patched things up with Iran and doesn’t want more instability. The challenge for Riyadh now is that the Southern Transition 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 regional interests, they do not always agree on Yemen.
Now Riyadh appears increasingly angry at what is happening in Yemen. “Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s government, urges separatists to withdraw from seized provinces,” France 24 noted on December 28. “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 air strikes in Yemen’s Hadramawt province. The Southern Transition Council (STC) separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates have recently made territorial gains, embarrassing regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.”
Arab News in Saudi Arabia published several articles that illustrate the growing concern in Riyadh.
One analysis says that “concern is mounting that Yemen is sliding toward a de facto partition, with rival authorities consolidating control over separate regions.”
A DRONE view shows people attending a rally organised by Yemen’s main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Aden, Yemen December 21, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Fawaz Salman)
It goes on to say that “In the south, the Southern Transitional Council has expanded its footprint, while Iran-backed Houthi forces remain firmly entrenched in the north. 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?”
Furthermore, it says, “on Dec. 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.”
Saudia Arabia responds to tensions in Yemen
Saudi Arabian officials are speaking up. Arab News added that “Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman called on the Southern Transitional Council (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 Hadramout and Al-Mahra and hand them over peacefully to local authorities.”
Prince Khalid said on X that 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. “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 added.
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 in Yemen on the ground and the recognition as shifting the status quo. Riyadh is conservative and prefers that things not change radically.
A third article at Arab News reflects Riyadh’s thinking on Somaliland. “While several nations, including the UK, Ethiopia, Turkiye, and the UAE, have maintained liaison offices in the capital of Hargeisa, none had been willing to cross the Rubicon of formal state recognition.”
The report adds that “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.”
The report goes on to assert that “Israel’s decision to break this decades-long international consensus is a deliberate departure from the status quo. 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.”
