Saudi Arabia issues national security warning as UAE forces asked to leave Yemen

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Forces of Yemens main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, arrive in a mountainous area where they are launching a military operation in the southern province of Abyan, Yemen, December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Dec 30 - Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday its national security was a red line and backed a call for UAE forces to leave Yemen within 24 hours, shortly after a Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike on the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla.

The warning represented Riyadhs strongest language against Abu Dhabi yet, as the coalition struck what it described as foreign military support to UAE-backed southern separatists, and the head of Yemens Saudi-backed presidential council set the deadline for Emirati forces to leave.

Saudi Arabia urged the Emiratis to comply with the demand.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are both major players in the OPEC oil exporters group, and any disagreements between the two could hamper consensus on oil output decisions.

The group is meeting virtually on Sunday.

Yemens presidential council head, Rashad al-Alimi, also cancelled a defence pact with the UAE, the Yemeni state news agency said, and accused the UAE in a televised speech of fuelling internal strife in Yemen with its support to the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

Unfortunately, it has been definitively confirmed that the United Arab Emirates pressured and directed the STC to undermine and rebel against the authority of the state through military escalation, he added.

The UAEs foreign ministry