RIYADH,— UAE’s Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.

It marked the first trip by a top Emirati official to the kingdom since a serious dispute split the two Gulf allies last year.

Prince Khalid extended the invitation for the visit.

It came as Saudi Arabia deals with growing threats from the Iran-backed Houthi movement, which has launched missile and drone attacks on the kingdom for several weeks.

Saudi officials have been seeking international backing to push back against the Houthis. It remains unclear whether that appeal included a request for UAE help.

The UAE had long served as Saudi Arabia’s top regional ally in the fight against Houthi forces.

During the meeting with Prince Khalid, the two sides talked about shared concerns and ways to strengthen ties and coordination, the Saudi Defense Ministry said in a post on X.

In a separate meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Sheikh Mansour discussed the countries’ “fraternal relations” and regional developments, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Long-standing tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, covering issues from regional politics to oil output, became public in December.

That happened after fighters from a UAE-backed separatist group in southern Yemen advanced near the Saudi border.

Saudi Arabia denounced the UAE’s role in the advance and later struck a weapons shipment tied to the UAE at Yemen’s Mukalla port.

The UAE responded by saying it had pulled all its troops out of Yemen, though friction between the two nations continued.

Yemen has been gripped by civil war for 12 years, since Houthi fighters took over the capital, Sanaa, triggering a Saudi-led military campaign.

(With files from Reuters)

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