UAE vice president visits Saudi Arabia in first visit since rift

UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Saudi Arabia on September 29, meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. This was the first visit by a senior UAE official to Saudi Arabia since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year.

The visit comes as Saudi Arabia faces increasing pressure from the Iran-backed Houthis, who have been firing missiles and drones at the kingdom. According to Al-Monitor, the Houthi threat appears to be bringing Saudi Arabia and the UAE closer together, with discussions on collaboration in Yemen having been ongoing for months.

The meeting between Sheikh Mansour and the Saudi leaders reviewed matters of mutual interest and ways to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the two countries, as reported by Saudi Gazette. The visit may signal a mending of fences between the two nations, which had been at odds over issues including Sudan, Yemen, and Somaliland.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, Winnipeg Free Press, Middle East Eye, Saudi Gazette, Ajel English — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.