News – Yemen: After a period of relative quiet, US–Emirati contacts have resurfaced amid unfolding developments in Hadramout, revealing renewed efforts to manage rival regional proxies in Yemen’s occupied provinces.

The US State Department disclosed that Marco Rubio urged Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed to move forward with a political settlement aimed at redirecting efforts against Sana’a, underscoring Washington’s continued role in orchestrating and balancing competing tools on the ground.

While the US avoids openly acknowledging the depth of conflict among its regional proxies in Hadramout and other occupied areas, it continues to frame these tensions under the banner of a “shared objective.”

This comes as relations between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi show clear signs of divergence and the erosion of many common interests, making stabilization from Aden to Al-Mahrah increasingly unattainable despite ongoing Saudi–Emirati committee activity.

Available indicators suggest that attempts to contain disputes among local proxies have taken unstable forms, reviving the 2019 conflict scenario that resulted in a reshaped deployment map. That phase expanded the influence of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Aden, Al-Dhalea, and Lahj, while redistributing control in Abyan, Shabwa, and Hadramout.

Abu Dhabi now appears intent on replicating that model, issuing explicit directives for the STC to maintain and consolidate its presence in Hadramout.

In parallel, growing US and British concern has emerged that deepening Saudi–Emirati rifts could undermine the core functions of the American–European project in Yemen and the wider region. Recent activity points to heightened interest in reinforcing deployments along Yemen’s western and southern coasts under the pretext of protecting US interests, amid expanding Emirati coordination with the Zionist entity.

These moves reflect US efforts to push local proxies toward advancing normalization tracks, amid fears that such steps could trigger an early rupture exposing secessionist agendas and precipitating the collapse of the so-called “international legitimacy” of exiled groupings that have persisted since 2014. This underscores the depth of the crisis and the entanglement of regional and international competition over Yemen’s geography.

Hadramout has emerged as a central arena for US-managed rivalry between Saudi and Emirati proxies, driven by its strategic location, energy resources, and access to vital maritime routes.

The widening rift between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi has laid bare the fragility of the occupation structure in Yemen’s eastern provinces, as Washington moves to recalibrate its tools to contain Sana’a and safeguard US and European interests.

These maneuvers are unfolding amid accelerating Emirati coordination with the Zionist entity, highlighting the growing internationalization of the conflict and the collapse of any illusion of a unified front of aggression against Yemen.