Flights were halted on Thursday at Yemen’s Aden international airport, the main international gateway for regions of the country outside Houthi control.
The Saudi-backed governor of Hadramout in Yemen said on Friday that a “peaceful operation” would be launched to reclaim military positions seized by southern separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates.
Yemen’s UAE-backed southern separatists seized large parts of the country from its internationally recognized government last month in a move viewed by Saudi Arabia as a threat.
This announcement came shortly after Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen said that Aidarus Al-Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen’s UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, refused permission to land the previous day for a plane carrying a Saudi delegation to Aden.
Zubaidi issued directives to close air traffic at Aden airport, the ambassador, Mohammed Al-Jaber, added in a post on X/Twitter.
Flights were halted on Thursday at Yemen’s Aden international airport, the main international gateway for regions of the country outside Houthi control.
Damaged military vehicles, reportedly sent by the United Arab Emirates to support Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatist forces, following an air strike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in the port of Mukalla, southern Yemen, on December 30, 2025. (credit: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)
Saudi-Yemeni tensions continue to build
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on vehicles that it said had been smuggled to Mukalla Port from the United Arab Emirates.
Riyadh said that recent gains by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen in the past weeks were approaching a red line. Saudi Arabia called out the UAE by name in an unusual type of dispute in the Gulf.
The Gulf is generally conservative in its policies, and its countries are reluctant to argue. There are exceptions, such as when Riyadh led several countries in cutting ties with Qatar in 2017.
Saudi Arabia backs the Yemeni government, which is weak and doesn’t control much of the country.
“In a region already teetering on the edge, Yemen’s rapidly evolving situation on the ground is raising alarm bells,” Arab News says. “While international observers continue to place their bets on diplomacy and de-escalation, there is growing concern that the country may be inching toward a dangerous regional conflagration.
