[2] The formation of the council was authorized a week earlier by the Historic Aden Declaration, announced at a rally protesting the dismissal of al-Zoubaidi from his post as governor.

[12] In 4 May 2017, Aidarus al-Zoubaidi announced a speech which the STC describes as the "Aden Historic Declaration" (Arabic: إعلان عدن التاريخي, romanized: Iʿlān ʿAdan at-Tārīḵiyy).

[21] On 27 August 2019, tensions continued to escalate in southern Yemen after the UAE-backed Security Belt Forces (SBF) lost territories to troops loyal to the Saudi-backed government of President Hadi.

[22] The government said local and security authorities in the provinces of Hadramawt, Abyan, Shabwa, al-Mahra, and the island of Socotra dismissed the move as a "clear and definite coup".

[25] The formation of the new unity government in December 2020, which includes equal numbers of representatives from each region of Yemen's northern and southern areas, was the result of over a year's worth of intense negotiations mediated by the Saudis, and was meant to end the infighting so that the two sides could fight together against the Houthi rebels in the ongoing civil war.

[26][27] In April 2022, STC formally became part of the Presidential Leadership Council, the new governing body of the Republic of Yemen established after the resignation of the former president.

STC is strongly opposed to Iranian attempts to control the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait and dominate the waterways of the Red Sea through its Houthi proxies.

[30] Describing themselves as secular nationalists opposed to theocratic system, Aidarous states regarding the May 2023 re-organization of the PLC: "It was necessary to strengthen the cohesiveness of the south and prepare for any Houthi attacks.