In a development reflecting the escalating conflict between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi over Yemen’s oil-rich Hadhramaut plateau, the UAE has sent a veiled message to Saudi Arabia on Monday through its proxies in the region, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) as an overtly provocative channel.
The message came via Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, advisor to the UAE president, who posted a tweet on X (formerly Twitter) offering “greetings and thanks” to STC factions, whom he referred to as “brothers of the Arab South,” a clear nod to UAE-aligned forces in southern Yemen.
شكرا للأشقاء الاعزاء في الجنوب العربي هذا الوفاء لشهداء الإمارات. pic.twitter.com/cOa63cdBcQ
— Abdulkhaleq Abdulla (@Abdulkhaleq_UAE) November 30, 2025
However, the real provocation was not the tweet itself, but the image accompanying it: a giant banner erected in a Hadhramaut street by the STC, naming the street as “UAE Martyrs Street.”
This was more of a political message to Saudi Arabia than a tribute to the victims of UAE-aligned factions.
Observers said that Abu Dhabi is using the gesture to remind everyone who holds the reins in the eastern oil-rich province, at a time when Saudi Arabia is making frantic efforts to halt the expansion of UAE-backed factions toward its western border with Yemen.
Hadhramaut has been witnessing an unprecedented military buildup in recent days, as Saudi and UAE reinforcements poured in amid a high-stakes race to control the oil-rich province.
On Sunday, the latest chapter in the confrontation unfolded when a Saudi-backed tribal alliance repelled an attack by UAE-supported STC factions, which attempted to regain positions they had lost the previous day following a counterattack by the tribal coalition.
