The United Arab Emirates has begun a wide-ranging review of its role within multilateral bodies but is not planning any additional withdrawals at present, a UAE official told Reuters on Wednesday. The statement came a day after Abu Dhabi publicly announced it would leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and OPEC+ effective May 1.
The anonymous Emirati official said the country is examining the utility of its memberships in multilateral organisations more broadly. That review has prompted intense speculation that the UAE might leave other regional institutions, including the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council - though officials say no further exits are being considered at this time.
Abu Dhabi’s departure from OPEC - where the UAE is among the larger producers - has highlighted a growing rift with neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the oil cartel. Once close allies, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have increasingly clashed across multiple arenas, from oil policy and regional geopolitics to competition for foreign talent and capital.
The exit contributes to a larger reassessment of alliances by the UAE that has been under way since the onset of the Iran war. Abu Dhabi has publicly criticised what it regards as an inadequate response from the Gulf Cooperation Council to the conflict.
"It is true that, logistically, the GCC countries supported each other, but politically and militarily, I think their position was the weakest in history,"
senior UAE official Anwar Gargash said at a conference in the UAE on Monday. He added:
"I expected such a weak position from the Arab League, and I am not surprised by it, but I have not expected it from the GCC, and I am surprised by it."
Gargash also indicated the UAE would "scrutinize" its regional and international relationships to "determine who can be relied upon", and that this diplomatic recalibration would be paired with measures intended to reinforce the UAE’s economic and financial resilience. He framed the approach as one of sustained independence, saying: "Strategic autonomy remains the UAE’s enduring choice."
The UAE occupies a central role as a regional business and financial hub and is described in official commentary as one of Washington’s most important allies. Abu Dhabi has pursued an assertive foreign policy and developed its own spheres of influence across the Middle East and Africa.
Having been targeted during the Iran war, the UAE has strengthened ties with the United States and Israel, the latter with which it formalised relations under the 2020 Abraham Accords. UAE officials view the relationship with Israel as both a lever for regional influence and a special channel to Washington.
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