The US’ Middle East policy is set to complicate further as two of its closest regional allies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE – are finding themselves on the opposite side of the divide in the decades-long Yemen Civil War.
Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are armed to the teeth with US military weapons such as “cutting-edge” F-15 jets and Patriot AD systems.
The rift presents a complex diplomatic challenge for the US at a sensitive time when Washington is working to mobilize the region against Iran and trying to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear program.
More worryingly, if the rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE widens, the US will have to walk a diplomatic tightrope, as Washington has defense treaties with both energy-rich Arab monarchies, maintains military bases in both countries, and supplies weapons to the armies of both.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have traditionally been close friends, and both have enjoyed a warm relationship with the US. In fact, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are important countries of the US-led anti-Iran bloc in the Middle East.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia decided to intervene militarily in the Yemeni Civil War, where Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had seized a large part of the country’s north, including the capital Sana’a.
Saudi Arabia, alongwith the UAE, and seven other Gulf countries, decided to support the internationally recognized government in Yemen, which was controlling the country’s South, including the crucial port-city of Aden.
However, over the last decade, the strategic interests of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen have diverged.
Saudi Arabia is primarily interested in securing its long border with Yemen, improving the overall security situation in the country, and curbing Iran’s rising influence in its backyard by defeating the Houthis.
However, as the main aim of defeating the Houthis began to falter, the UAE began pursuing its own long-term interests, namely securing southern port cities for commercial and trade purposes.
Lately, the UAE has been supporting the Southern Transitional Council (STC) against the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), formed in 2022 as a power-sharing body to replace the previous president. It is based in Aden and controls parts of the south and east.
As the STC gained ground in the south and started expanding into the oil-rich eastern provinces like Hadramout and al-Mahra, the Saudis grew increasingly nervous as these strategic areas control crucial land routes and ports connecting Yemen to Saudi Arabia and Oman, making them vital for regional security.
Furthermore, both Hadramout and al-Mahra are strategically located in eastern Yemen, with Hadramout directly bordering Saudi Arabia and al-Mahra situated nearby.
The Saudis assessed that the UAE-backed STC’s expansion into these areas, right next to their southern border, was a direct challenge to their own security.
Last week, Saudi Arabia responded by conducting air strikes against UAE-backed forces along its border, bombing shipments of what it said were arms supplied by the UAE at Yemen’s Mukalla port overnight.
On December 30, Saudis warned the UAE against endangering its security and said that Riyadh will take all necessary measures to counter the threat. Saudi Arabia also gave the UAE a 24-hour ultimatum to pull its troops out of Yemen and end financial and military support for any forces in the country.
“The kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralize any such threat,” the Saudi foreign ministry warned.
For the time being, the UAE has agreed to withdraw its forces from Yemen; however, this is not the end of the rising Saudi-Emirati turf war in the Middle Eastern region.
For one, the UAE has not promised that it will stop financial and military support to the STC, which is demanding an autonomous, separate South Yemen.
Furthermore, the Saudi and Emirati interests are also colliding in several other countries, including in Sudan, Somalia, Libya, and Syria, where the two countries are supporting opposing warring factions.
A protracted turf war between the two oil-rich Arab kingdoms seems increasingly likely. For now, the two countries are fighting at various places through their proxies.
However, as the latest air strike by Saudi Arabia shows, this proxy warfare can also turn into an active confrontation at any time.
Such a scenario would be a diplomatic nightmare for the US’s Middle Eastern foreign policy, as both the Saudis and the Emiratis are extremely close to Washington, to the point that the US is the main military backer of both countries.
How The US Has Propped Both Saudis & Emiratis
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are highly dependent on the US for their military power. Shared interests in countering Iran, the need for advanced technology for oil extraction, and the need for modern weapons systems that their domestic industries cannot produce have made both countries strategic partners of the US for several decades.
A strategic partnership and geopolitical alliance with the US also provides deterrence and the continued survival of these oil-rich monarchies in a volatile region.
This dependence has strengthened since the Gulf War. As a matter of fact, the US has been instrumental in multiple regime changes in the region, from Iraq, Libya, to Syria, countries that opposed US policies in the region.
At the same time, the US also considers its partnerships with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to be key to regional stability, global trade, and energy security.
In fact, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have defense and security treaties with the US, host US military bases in the region, and the US is the primary arms supplier to both, so much so that a Saudi-Emirati conflict could also be termed as the US fighting the US.
In Saudi Arabia, the primary US military presence is at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) in Al Kharj. This active US Air Force expeditionary base has been operational since the 1990s. The base hosts US fighter jets, surveillance aircraft, drones, and personnel.
Similarly, in the UAE, the key facility is Al Dhafra Air Base, located south of Abu Dhabi, which hosts around 5,000 US military personnel and serves as a major hub for the US 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.
Recently, the US termed Saudi Arabia its major non-NATO ally. In November 2025, the two countries signed the U.S.-Saudi Strategic Defense Agreement (SDA), solidifying their defense partnership.
Similarly, with the Emiratis, the US has signed the 1994 Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), updated in 2019 to enhance coordination, joint training, and military interoperability.
The US is also the leading arms supplier for both countries.
Saudi Arabia is the biggest buyer of US weapons. According to SIPRI, between 2020 and 2024, Saudi Arabia was the top importer of US weapons, accounting for 12% of all US weapons sold globally.
In November 2025, Saudi Arabia signed defense agreements with the US worth US$ 142 billion. Saudi Arabia is the US’s largest Foreign Military Sales (FMS) partner, with active cases valued at more than US$129 billion.
The F-15 is the backbone of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), with a fleet strength of nearly 250 F-15 SA aircraft. The RSAF also operates Boeing E-3A Sentry AEW&C aircraft and Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
The US is also considering selling the fifth-generation stealth aircraft, the F-35, to the Saudis. The UAE has already signed a historic deal to acquire Rafale jets from France.
Besides, the US has supplied Patriot AD systems, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles (over 2,500 approved in 2024), AIM-120C advanced air-to-air missiles (a US$3.5 billion deal), and precision-guided munitions to counter rocket threats.
Similarly, the US is the UAE’s top weapons supplier. According to SIPRI, between 2020 and 2024, the US supplied 42% of the UAE’s weapons.
The UAE Air Force operates nearly 80 F-16s, eight Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and the same number of Lockheed C-130 Hercules.
The country also operates nearly 30 Boeing AH-64D/E Apache Longbow (attack helicopter), and almost the same number of Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters. It also operates MQ-9 Reaper armed drones.
Recent approvals cover CH-47F Chinook helicopters (US$1.4 billion for six units plus equipment) and F-16 fighter jet parts.
The UAE is also the first export customer of THAAD Air Defense systems. The UAE signed a contract in 2011 worth approximately US$1.135 billion for two THAAD batteries, including interceptor missiles, launchers, and AN/TPY-2 radars.
This is not an exhaustive list. However, it shows that whether it’s combat aircraft, transport aircraft, helicopters, drones, or missile defense systems, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE depend on the US.
However, this mutual dependence on the US for defense supplies and the training of the armed forces also means that the US has leverage with both countries, enabling Washington to mediate between them and possibly avoid confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
At a time when Trump is pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear program, he needs the active support of both the Saudis and the Emiratis.
- THIS IS AN OPINION ARTICLE
