The foreign relations of Yemen are the relationships and policies that Yemen maintains with other countries. It is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Yemen participates in the nonaligned movement. The Republic of Yemen accepted responsibility for all treaties and debts of its predecessors, the YAR and the PDRY. Additionally, Yemen acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has stressed the need to render the Middle East region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
History North Yemen The geography and ruling Imams of North Yemen kept the country isolated from foreign influence before 1962.Long, David E.; Reich, Bernard (1995). The government and politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Westview Press (3rd edition). p. 153. . During the 1920s, the government of Yemen forged relations with the Italian government under Mussolini, which led to the Italo-Yemeni Treaty on September 2, 1926.Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 67, pp. 384-391. This gave the Sanaa government diplomatic support vis-a-vis the Saudi government, which had aggressive designs on Yemeni territory. The country's relations with Saudi Arabia were defined by the Treaty of Taif in 1934 which delineated the northernmost part of the border between the two kingdoms and set the framework for commerce and other interactions. The Taif Agreement has been renewed periodically in 20-year increments, and its validity was reaffirmed in 1995. Relations with the British colonial authorities in Aden and the south were usually tense.
The Soviet and Communist Chinese Aid Missions established in 1958 and 1959 were the first important non-Muslim presence in North Yemen. Following the North Yemen civil war, the Yemen Arab Republic became closely allied with and heavily dependent upon Egypt.Ismael, Tareq Y.; Ismael, Jacqueline S.; Jaber, Kamel Abu (1991). Politics and government in the Middle East and North Africa. University Press of Florida. p. 427. . Saudi Arabia aided the royalists in their attempt to defeat the Republicans and did not recognize the Yemen Arab Republic until 1970. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia provided Yemen with substantial budgetary and project support. At the same time, Saudi Arabia maintained direct contact with Yemeni tribes, which sometimes strained its official relations with the Yemeni government. Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis found employment in Saudi Arabia during the late 1970s and 1980s.
Ali Abdullah Saleh's foreign policy as the then-president of North Yemen was characterized by the principles of "positive neutrality" and Arab unity. Under Saleh, Yemen cultivated close ties with Saudi Arabia and other pro-West states in the region. He also purchased military equipment from the United States and expanded economic relations with the West. At the same time, Saleh also tried to maintain friendly relations with the then-Soviet Union (which broke apart in 1991). In October 1984, he renewed the treaty of Friendship and Cooperation that was originally signed in 1964 by San'a and Moscow.
In February 1989, North Yemen joined Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt informing the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), an organization created partly in response to the founding of the Gulf Cooperation Council and intended to foster closer economic cooperation and integration among its members.Dresch, Paul (2000). A history of modern Yemen. Cambridge University Press. p. 181. . After unification, the Republic of Yemen was accepted as a member of the ACC in place of its YAR predecessor. In the wake of the Persian Gulf crisis, the ACC has remained inactive.
South Yemen British authorities left South Yemen in November 1967 in the wake of an intense resistance campaign. The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, the successor to British colonial rule, had diplomatic relations with many nations, but its major links were with the Soviet Union and other Communist countries. Relations between it and the conservative Arab states of the Arabian Peninsula were strained. There were military clashes with Saudi Arabia in 1969 and 1973, and the PDRY provided active support for the Dhofar Rebellion against the Sultanate of Oman. The PDRY was the only Arab state to vote against admitting new Arab states from the Persian Gulf area to the United Nations and the Arab League. The PDRY provided sanctuary and material support to various international terrorist groups.
Unified Yemen The Persian Gulf crisis dramatically affected Yemen's foreign relations. As a member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 1990 and 1991, Yemen abstained from several UNSC resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait and voted against the "use of force resolution". Western and Persian Gulf Arab states reacted by curtailing or canceling aid programs and diplomatic contacts. At least 850,000 Yemenis returned from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
After the liberation of Kuwait, Yemen continued to maintain high-level contacts with Iraq. This hampered its efforts to rejoin the Arab mainstream and to mend fences with its immediate neighbors. In 1993, Yemen launched an unsuccessful diplomatic offensive to restore relations with its Persian Gulf neighbors. Some of its aggrieved neighbors actively aided the South during the 1994 civil war. Since the end of that conflict, tangible progress has been made on the diplomatic front in restoring normal relations with Yemen's neighbors. The Omani-Yemeni border has been officially demarcated. In the summer of 2000, Yemen and Saudi Arabia signed an International Border Treaty settling a 50-year-old dispute over the location of the border between the two countries. Yemen settled its dispute with Eritrea over the Hanish Islands in 1998.
Diplomatic relations List of countries which Yemen maintains diplomatic relations with: #CountryDate1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041— (suspended)42434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119—120121122123124125—126127128129—Unknown130Unknown131Unknown132Unknown
Africa Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 13 March 1980See Djibouti – Yemen relations Both countries established diplomatic relation on 13 March 1980.
Relations between Yemen and Djibouti are good, and cooperation takes place on many levels.Yemen, Djibouti talk on cooperation in energy field. Saba News Agency. October 13, 2009. A causeway between the two countries has been proposed.Proposed Yemen–Djibouti causeway strategically important – expert. Zawya. August 12, 2007.23 May 1993See Eritrea–Yemen relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 May 1993 when Mr. Ahmed Abdella al Basha presented his credentials as the Yemeni Ambassador to President of Eritrea Issaias Afwerki.
In 1995, there was a war between Yemen and Eritrea over the Hanish islands. Yemen was deemed to have most of the island group in 1998. 18 December 1960See Somalia–Yemen relations Following the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia in the 1990s, the Yemeni authorities maintained relations with Somalia's newly established Transitional National Government and its successor the Transitional Federal Government."Yemen : President Hadi calls on int’l community to bear its responsibilities towards Somalia" The subsequent establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia in August 2012 was also welcomed by the Yemeni authorities, who re-affirmed Yemen's continued support for Somalia's government, its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Additionally, Somalia maintains an embassy in Yemen, with the diplomatic mission led by Ambassador Ismail Qassim Naji. Yemen also has an embassy in Mogadishu.
Both nations are also members of the Arab League.21 April 1956As of 2011, relations between Yemen and Sudan were not particularly strong, but they took on added importance after Yemen, Sudan, and Ethiopia developed an alliance late in 2003. The leaders of the three countries subsequently met frequently; the focus of their concern was often Eritrea. This alliance took an interesting twist at the end of 2004, when Yemeni president Ali Abdallah Salih offered to mediate differences between Sudan and Eritrea. As Sudan–Eritrea relations improved, the tripartite alliance with Ethiopia became dormant. The heads of government of Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Somalia did meet in Addis Ababa early in 2007, where they focused on the situation in Somalia. Sudan and Yemen also signed 14 cooperative agreements in mid-2007. As of early 2011, Sudan–Yemen relations were cordial but less significant than they had been several years before.
Americas Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 4 March 1946See United States-Yemen relations
Traditionally, Yemen's relations with the United States have been tepid, as the lack of strong military-to-military ties, commercial relations, and support of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has hindered the development of strong bilateral ties. During the early years of the George W. Bush administration, relations improved under the rubric of the war on terror, though Yemen's lax policy toward wanted terrorists has stalled additional American support.Sharp, Jeremy M. Yemen: Background and U.S. Relations (RL34170, PDF). Congressional Research Service (January 22, 2009).
Asia Country Formal Relations BeganNotes 21 March 1983See Bangladesh–Yemen relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 March 1983.
South Yemen was the first Arab state to recognize Bangladesh (other Arab states had supported Pakistan in the 1971 war), and the support for Bangladeshi independence marked an emerging split between South Yemen and China.24 September 1956See China–Yemen relations China and the Kingdom of Yemen established diplomatic relations at ministerial level on September 24, 1956, and upgraded bilateral relations to ambassadorial level on February 13, 1963. China established ambassadorial-level diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Yemen on January 31, 1968. After Yemen was united, China and Yemen set September 24, 1956 as the date of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.
The two countries signed a treaty of friendship in 1958, with an agreement to cooperate in commercial, technical and cultural development.
China has an embassy in Sanaa. Yemen has an embassy in Beijing. 15 March 1962See India–Yemen relations Diplomatic relations between these countries were established on 15 March 1962. Relations continue to be in good shape notwithstanding India's close partnership with Saudi Arabia or Yemen's close ties with Pakistan.
India has an embassy in Sanaa. Yemen has an embassy in New Delhi.21 April 1962See Indonesia-Yemen relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 April 1962. Indonesia and Yemen shared similarity as the Muslim majority countries, Indonesia is the most popular Muslim country in the world, while Yemen also a Muslim majority nation. Indonesia has an embassy in Sanaa, while Yemen has an embassy in Jakarta. Both the countries have many cultural proximities and similar view on international issues.May 1971See Iran-Yemen relations Following the first two decades of the Islamic Revolution, ties between Tehran and Sanaa were never strong, but in recent years the two countries have attempted to settle their differences.Iran and Yemen sign seven documents for cooperation , Payvand's Iran News, 2003-05-16. One sign of this came on December 2, 2003, when the Yemeni foreign ministry announced that "Yemen welcomes Iran's request to participate in the Arab League as an observer member."Yemen supports giving Iran the observer seat at the AL , ArabicNews.com, 2003-03-12