Yemen's land, the Gulf's wounds, two friends, one front and the language of gunpowder

By Syed Asif Imam Kaikai, Dubai
As 2025 enters its final moments, the world is bidding farewell to the year not with serenity, but with a new sense of unease. Yemen's wounded landscape is once again at the center of global politics, where this time the targets are not non-state groups, but two close allies of the Gulf, old friends Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, standing face to face.

With the first call to prayer at dawn, the sound of explosions echoed through Yemen. The Saudi aerial attack on the port of Mokha was not just a military operation, but an announcement of a deep rift in Gulf politics. Within hours, a blunt message from Riyadh was heard around the world: the United Arab Emirates must withdraw all its forces from Yemen within 24 hours. This statement was not a formal phrase in diplomatic tone, but a stern warning.

Saudi Arabia has made it clear that its national security is a red line, and this line cannot be crossed even by a close friend. According to Saudi Arabia, large quantities of weapons, armored vehicles, and military equipment were being unloaded from Emirati ships at the port of Mokha, which was intended to strengthen the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist organization active in southern Yemen. Riyadh claims this is not only a blatant violation of ceasefire and de-escalation agreements, but also the preparation of a new threat near Saudi borders.

On the other hand, the silence of the United Arab Emirates has become a question in itself. Although the allegations were initially denied, the announcement of a complete military withdrawal from Yemen by evening has put the crisis on a new turn. The question here is not why the attack happened, but how friends who stood together on the same front for years have suddenly become a threat to each other.

The war in Yemen is not just a war, but a collection of many wars. This story begins with the Arab Spring of 2011, when the people of Yemen took to the streets and forced Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been in power for decades, to relinquish power. After him, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was made the interim president, but corruption, unemployment, and inflation soon turned the people's hopes into despair.

In this vacuum, the Houthi movement gained power and seized the capital, Sana'a. Surprisingly, former President Saleh sided with his old enemies, the Houthis. In 2015, the situation reached a point where Saudi Arabia decided to intervene militarily and launched airstrikes in Yemen with a broad Arab coalition, which was supported by the United States, Britain, and France. Saudi Arabia feared that an Iran-backed Houthi government would be established on its southern border, and the strategic Bab al-Mandab waterway could slip out of its control.

This was the reason why a severe sea and air blockade was imposed on Yemen, which the ordinary Yemeni people suffered from. The severe shortage of fuel, food, and medicine turned Yemen into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Millions of children suffered from malnutrition, hospitals were closed, and an entire society was left alone in the struggle to survive.

Meanwhile, another front opened in southern Yemen. The United Arab Emirates began supporting southern separatists who dreamed of an independent South Yemen. From here, the paths of Saudi Arabia and the UAE began to diverge slowly. The fundamental difference between a united Yemen and a divided Yemen has now turned into an open conflict.

Recent events have proven that alliances in Gulf politics are not permanent, but are subject to interests. When interests collide, friends become enemies, and the battlefield belongs to someone else. The most bitter reality is that the cost of all these decisions, statements, and bombings is always paid by ordinary humans.

The mother in Yemen who is watching her child die of hunger, the elderly person who is dying without medicine, and the young person who has no choice but to migrate - these are the real faces of this war. Today, Yemen's land is once again a witness to the fact that wars are not fought only with weapons, but also through decisions, the ticks of clocks, and political statements.

The morning attack, the afternoon ultimatum, and the evening withdrawal - all are proof that the decisions of powerful countries can change the fate of weaker nations in a single day. The question is, will Yemen ever have peace? Will these powerful Gulf countries acknowledge that despite their military superiority, they are facing a moral defeat? And will the global conscience ever awaken, or will Yemen remain a pawn in the game of global politics? Yemen is still bleeding today, but its wounds are not just from bombs, but also from the promises made at the beginning of every war and forgotten after every war.