The biggest breakthrough yet in the Saudi-UAE rift came in a bland statement about “brotherly bilateral relations and regional developments.” UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh is the most prominent effort to repair ties, which have ruptured over competing interests in Yemen, Sudan, and elsewhere. Tuesday’s “fraternal visit” signals that intra-Gulf rivalries are taking a back seat as the US-Iran war threatens trillions of dollars invested in transforming the region’s economies.
The UAE delegation included the heads of its national security council, crisis management authority, and defense procurement body, highlighting the focus on security. Ali Shihabi, a Saudi commentator close to the royal court, told the Financial Times that Riyadh wants Abu Dhabi to manage southern Yemeni factions and prevent them from undermining the anti-Houthi front.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s defense minister pledged to use “whatever means are available” to defend Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, whose missile attacks have hit critical infrastructure and major cities in the kingdom over the past month. “Any enemy of Saudi Arabia is an enemy of Pakistan,” he told reporters during a visit to Rome.