Sudan Cuts Diplomatic Ties With the UAE

story

MAY 7

Above: Protesters hold banners and a flag of Sudan during a demonstration against the United Arab Emirates for its alleged support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) outside the U.K. Foreign Office in Westminster on April 15, 2025. Image copyright: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Imagesstory last updated MAY 7

The Facts

Sudan's army-aligned Security and Defense Council cut diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday amid allegations that the country is an "aggressor state" violating the sovereignty of Sudan through the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has been fighting against the army since April 2023.
Anadolu Agency Radio Tamazuj
In a televised speech, Sudan Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim further announced that the Sudanese ambassador was to be withdrawn from the Gulf nation and diplomatic missions in the country were to be closed. He also said that Sudan reserves the right to respond to aggression by all means.
Radio Tamazuj BBC News Sputnik Africa
This comes as Sudan claims that the UAE has supplied advanced weapons for the RSF to launch drone and missile attacks targeting critical infrastructure — port, airport, water and power facilities, and fuel storage facilities — since Sunday in Port Sudan.
BBC News Guardian XINHUA Radio Tamazuj
+1

Sources

Anadolu Agency BBC News Guardian Radio Tamazuj Reuters Sputnik Africa Sudan Tribune XINHUA

The Spin

Narrative A

The United Arab Emirates and its local proxy in Sudan, the terrorist RSF militia, have long threatened the sovereignty of Sudan and the regional security in the Red Sea, but they are dangerously escalating attacks as their defeat is clear. It's only natural that Sudan has now severed diplomatic relations with this aggressor state.

SUNA

Narrative B

It's completely absurd that Sudan's army-aligned government continues its smear campaign against the United Arab Emirates, even after the International Court of Justice dismissed its politically motivated case. Governments may rise and fall, but the friendship between the Emirati and Sudanese people will always prevail.

The National