Intelligence sources have alleged that the United Arab Emirates is secretly financing a new military campaign by Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, the Houthis, against Saudi Arabia in exchange for a commitment by the group to halt missile attacks on Abu Dhabi. According to Sheba Intelligence, Iran helped negotiate the alleged arrangement.
Sheba Intelligence reported that the UAE had agreed to finance a Houthi campaign aimed at seizing strategic areas around Bab al-Mandeb and launching renewed attacks against Saudi Arabia, amid worsening regional tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
The agency cited a source who had previously disclosed secret contacts between Emirati officials and the Houthis, saying the agreement followed a meeting in Abu Dhabi on 20 August attended by Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam and other senior figures from the movement.
According to the source, the UAE subsequently informed Iran that it was prepared to cover the costs of mobilisation and military operations until the Houthis secured control of Bab al-Mandab. The claim remains attributed to Sheba Intelligence and its source.
The account comes amid rapidly shifting military developments along Yemen’s western coast, where Houthi forces expanded their control over strategically important areas near Bab al-Mandab during September.
International reporting has confirmed that Houthi forces took control of Perim Island at the entrance to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, as well as other positions along the Red Sea coast, strengthening their presence around one of the world’s most strategically important maritime corridors.
Subsequent reports also indicated Houthi control over the Hanish Islands, further expanding the movement’s ability to influence maritime access through the southern Red Sea.
Saudi-UAE Rivalry in Yemen
The latest developments have brought renewed attention to the Saudi-Emirati rivalry inside Yemen, where a partnership that began with their joint involvement in the war in 2015 has increasingly given way to competition over influence and control in the country’s south and east.
One of the principal points of disagreement has been the Southern Transitional Council, which was backed by Abu Dhabi, while Riyadh supported other Yemeni authorities and factions.
The dispute escalated sharply in late 2025 and early 2026 after the Southern Transitional Council advanced into Hadramout and Al-Mahra. Saudi-backed forces later launched a counter-offensive and recovered large areas that had fallen under the group’s control.
An analysis by the Sana’a Centre for Strategic Studies described the shift as a move from managed “competition” to overt “rivalry” between the two Gulf powers. A British House of Commons Library briefing similarly noted that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had backed different factions within Yemen’s anti-Houthi camp.
Hadramout is particularly important to Riyadh because of its proximity to the Saudi border, its oil resources and its position on the Arabian Sea.
Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, backed the Southern Transitional Council and other southern forces, making the future of southern Yemen one of the most significant points of divergence between the two Gulf capitals.
The dispute reached an unprecedented level in December 2025 when Saudi-led forces struck a shipment at the port of Mukalla that Riyadh said was linked to the UAE and the Southern Transitional Council. The UAE disputed the Saudi account of the shipment. The episode marked a major escalation in the confrontation between the former partners inside Yemen.
Bab al-Mandeb at the Centre of Regional Competition
This background places the new allegations surrounding Bab al-Mandeb within a wider and increasingly complex struggle.
Saudi Arabia views further Houthi advances along Yemen’s western coast as a threat to its security and oil export routes. The UAE, meanwhile, has for years maintained ties with local forces in southern Yemen, with its regional policy placing considerable emphasis on ports, maritime routes and competition with regional and domestic rivals.
Recent developments have left Riyadh facing pressure both from renewed Houthi attacks and from the fragmentation of Yemen’s anti-Houthi camp.
The Houthis have intensified military operations against Saudi Arabia while advancing along the Red Sea coast, prompting Saudi military action aimed at containing their gains. Reuters reported that the Houthi advance towards Bab al-Mandeb had increased pressure on Saudi oil exports and international shipping.
Against this backdrop, the Sheba Intelligence report also pointed to a 12 September meeting in New Delhi between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Official accounts of the meeting said the two discussed regional and international developments and stressed the importance of easing tensions and strengthening regional stability.
The following day, Pezeshkian described the talks as positive and said the two sides had agreed to “put the past aside” and look towards building a shared future.
The sequence of developments has placed Bab al-Mandeb at the intersection of several overlapping struggles: the Iran-US war, the renewed Saudi-Houthi confrontation, Saudi-Emirati competition over Yemen’s future and the wider contest over control and security of strategic maritime routes.
