UAE Backs Addis Ababa While Riyadh Watches from Afar in Tigray Crisis

The UAE has publicly condemned attacks by the Tigray People's Liberation Front on Ethiopian federal forces, while Saudi Arabia is careful to maintain clear diplomatic distance from the renewed crisis in northern Ethiopia.

The UAE statement was issued on September 25 and bore the signature of Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, condemning the seizure of airports in the Tigray region, as well as escalation in the neighboring Afar and Amhara zones. Abu Dhabi thereby stands openly alongside the federal government in a manner that leaves no room for interpretation.

Riyadh, by contrast, has not issued an equivalent statement; its diplomatic record in the region includes mediation between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and 2025 reports pointed to a Saudi offer to mediate between the parties, yet its position on the current clashes has not been disclosed. This calculated silence differs fundamentally from the UAE's explicit condemnation — and the difference is intentional.

The renewed fighting threatens the Pretoria accord signed in November 2022, which ended the war between the federal government and Tigray forces. Rising tensions along the Eritrean border increase the likelihood of wider conflict in the Horn of Africa, where UAE and Saudi influence intersect with highly sensitive strategic interests.