News - Yemen: Military expert Brig. Gen. Abdulghani Al-Zubaidi said developments in Yemen’s Hadramout and Al-Mahrah governorates fall within a clear struggle for influence between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, noting that Riyadh had previously delineated spheres of influence for Abu Dhabi before the latter moved—under American and Zionist impetus—to expand its presence in eastern Yemen.

Al-Zubaidi stressed that such moves would not have occurred without a US green light and backing from the Israeli enemy, describing the developments as part of a calculated operation serving external agendas.

He referred to reports about the movement of two vessels from Fujairah Port to Mukalla Port, saying that targeting them at specific locations was not intended to achieve direct military impact but rather to deliver political and media messages—similar to the Israeli enemy’s pattern of striking civilian facilities to convey media narratives.

According to Al-Zubaidi, these messages appear primarily directed at the UAE, as part of media groundwork for announcing a withdrawal from Hadramout and Al-Mahrah. He cautioned, however, that any such withdrawal would likely be cosmetic, without ending indirect influence.

He added that Emirati tools—foremost the so-called Southern Transitional Council—are betting on direct US support, even if not publicly declared, pointing to intensive meetings and contacts in recent days among the foreign ministers of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and several Gulf states as evidence of Washington and Riyadh entering the scene.

Al-Zubaidi concluded that the trajectory chiefly serves US interests and the objectives of the Zionist entity, asserting that the Transitional Council will not carry out a genuine or comprehensive withdrawal and that any pullback would remain limited and symbolic, particularly from certain camps near the Saudi border.

Hadramout and Al-Mahrah have emerged in recent years as arenas for competing regional influence, tied to control over ports, land corridors, and strategic access to the coastline. 

Analysts say shifting deployments and media signaling in eastern Yemen are linked to broader regional recalibrations amid US involvement and coordination that, according to Yemeni officials, ultimately align with the Israeli enemy’s strategic priorities in the Red Sea and surrounding theaters.