Senior US envoy Massad Boulos on Tuesday said that Washington, the UAE and Saudi Arabia share an objective to fight against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and other terrorists in Yemen.
"The United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all agree on the importance of defeating the Houthis and other terrorist actors for the benefit of all of Yemen and the stability of the region," Mr Boulos, US President Donald Trump's senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, said in a post on X.
The statement was attached to one from the US embassy in Yemen. "Our common objective is to fight the Houthis and the other terrorist groups, such as Aqap [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] and ISIS," it quoted Mr Boulos as saying.
The envoy spoke last week to On The Record, broadcast by Sky News Arabia and The National.
Saudi Arabia has led an anti-Houthi alliance in Yemen since 2015, with the UAE playing a key role in halting the advance of the rebels, expelling them from the south and combating extremist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Southern forces, trained by the UAE, played a significant role in driving Houthi fighters out of the region, particularly in Aden, Lahj and parts of Abyan, during the early years of the war between 2015 and 2018.
Those battles prevented the Houthis from consolidating control over the south after the group's advance from the capital Sanaa and allowed the internationally recognised government to re-establish a foothold in Aden.
The UAE ended its military presence within the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in 2019, but kept a limited number of specialists in the country as part of counter-terrorism efforts.
The US has sporadically intervened in Yemen, particularly to crack down on Houthi attacks against global shipping lanes. The group began its attacks in 2023, claiming to support Palestinians in Gaza – with the Houthis targeting vessels in the Red Sea.
Washington attacked Houthi positions in Yemen in response. A truce in May last year between the US and the Houthis ended the strikes.
In the interview, Mr Boulos said that another objective in Yemen was to ensure "safe and secure navigation" in the Red Sea. He emphasised that "the common objective has not changed" despite recent political divisions within Yemen.
