The United Kingdom and Yemen have a long history of bilateral relations, dating back to the 20th century when the UK played a significant role in the region as a colonial power.

The United Kingdom is a longstanding donor to the humanitarian relief effort in Yemen and provides training to the Saudi and Yemeni forces in order to combat the Houthi rebels.

However, as a result of the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia expelled over a million Yemeni workers, sharply deteriorating Saudi-Yemeni relations.

[7] Following 9/11, the United Kingdom provided Yemen with counter-terrorism training to deal with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but instructors officially withdrew in 2015 when the British embassy had to close due to the war breaking out.

[8] When Britain’s ambassador Michael Aron was repeatedly questioned over these allegations, he did not deny them, stating these forces were sent in order to “support efforts of fighting terrorism and smuggling.” These allegations have been confirmed, and the reason for the British Special Forces’ deployment in Eastern Yemen was to “track down the Houthi perpetrators of a tanker attack.”[9] Despite their long history, relations today have been quite tense.