Category World News

Somali government minister Ali Omar told Al Jazeera that the UAE improperly used Somali airspace by smuggling “fugitive” Yemeni separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi through his country, which was the “last straw” that pushed Somalia’s government to cancel all agreements with the UAE.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen dodged a reporter’s question about US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, after having photographs taken inside the parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Somalia has torn up all agreements with the United Arab Emirates after UAE-backed Yemeni separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi illegally entered the Gulf Arab country through the breakaway region of Somaliland, a top minister has said.

The move also comes in the wake of Israel’s world-first recognition of Somaliland, which has been roundly condemned across Africa and the Arab world and beyond.

Ali Omar, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera that the entry of al-Zubaidi, leader of the now-defunct Southern Transitional Council (STC), into Somali territory on January 8 was “the last straw” that prompted Mogadishu to cancel all deals with Abu Dhabi.

The decision, announced by Somalia’s Council of Ministers on Monday, annuls agreements spanning port operations, security cooperation and defence.

“Using Somalia’s airspace, Somalia’s airfields to smuggle a fugitive is not something that Somalia condones,” Omar said, describing how al-Zubaidi allegedly travelled on a UAE-registered cargo plane from Berbera port to Mogadishu.

He said Somali authorities received the plane’s manifest, but al-Zubaidi’s name was not listed, suggesting he was hiding aboard.

Omar emphasised that while the incident triggered the decision, it reflected deeper frustrations with the UAE’s conduct in Somalia.

“It was one of the reasons we took this action. Not the reason, but one of the reasons,” he said. “We tried to deal with them diplomatically, but now we have decided to take action. Diplomacy didn’t work, and so now the constitution has to work.”

The announcement has exposed deep fractures in Somalia’s federal system, which grants member states significant autonomy over their affairs.

Within hours of the decision, two regions with close commercial and security ties with the UAE rejected Mogadishu’s authority to cancel the agreements.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but lacks international recognition, also closely aligned with Abu Dhabi, rejected it too.

The minister said Somalia had exhausted diplomatic channels before taking action.

“We were hoping things would change, but it did not change,” Omar told Al Jazeera, adding that the country is “claiming its sovereignty again, and we are asking people to respect that.”

He drew parallels between Somalia’s situation and Yemen’s conflict, praising Saudi efforts to stabilise the country and noting that “a stable Yemen helps stabilise Somalia and vice versa”.

A broader regional convergence of interests with Riyadh forms the backdrop to this decision, following Saudi Arabia’s move to push the UAE-backed STC out of Yemen and its adoption of a more assertive posture against Abu Dhabi.

Somalia’s Information Minister Daud Aweis insisted the decision wasn’t taken under Saudi pressure in an interview with Al Jazeera.

The UAE has not commented on the allegations or Somalia’s decision to cancel agreements.

Somalia’s move comes amid anger in Mogadishu over what officials view as the UAE’s significant influence through breakaway and autonomous regions.

According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Washington-based research institution, Emirati investments in East Africa total approximately $47bn, accounting for more than half of Gulf funding flowing into the area.

“There was a time that Somalia accepted any help that it could get, regardless of how it came through. But that has created challenges,” Aweis said.

“Today we have an established government system that needs to be respected,” he said.

“Somalia is trying to reclaim its sovereignty and asking the international community and other partners to deal with state-to-state, rather than state-to-non-state actors.”

Israeli recognition fuels tensions

The breakdown in relations also follows Israel’s recognition of Somaliland in December, a move many Somalis believe the UAE facilitated. The UAE has not commented on that allegation.

While the UAE declined to sign a joint Arab-Islamic statement in December condemning Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, on January 7, it released a joint statement with the African Union pledging “support for Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability”.

Omar expressed confidence that no other countries would follow Israel’s lead, citing diplomatic outreach and continental concerns.

“I don’t think so. And I hope that will not happen. I think we have done enough diplomatic outreach throughout the world,” he said.

Dozens of countries and international bodies have condemned the move, and while Trump said he would not follow Israel’s decision, he added that the matter was under review.

He said other countries shared challenges with separatist movements and warned that it could open “a Pandora’s box”.

“I don’t think the world is ready to make that kind of action,” he said.

Omar also pointed to internal divisions within Somaliland on the issue of whether separate statehood in the north is the right move.

Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, has been one of the most stable parts of Somalia and boasts its own currency, flag, central bank, and distinct political identity.

After Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, announced Israel’s recognition in December, he said that the existence of a separate state did not mean that the cultural, ethnic, and religious bonds among Somalis had been severed.

Omar, the Somali minister, explained that the region comprises five major clans, with two eastern clans having already seceded to form the Northeast State, while similar dynamics are emerging in the west.

“There isn’t sufficient momentum for separatism,” he said.

The minister warned that reports of a potential Israeli military base in Somaliland pose broader regional security risks.

“The region has enough mess, enough trouble, enough insecurity. To bring Israel into the region will only create more challenges,” he said, cautioning that such a presence would attract armed fighters to an area where ISIL (ISIS) and al-Shabab already operate.

United States President Donald Trump says he will slap a 25 percent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ratcheting up pressure on its government, which is facing its biggest protests in decades.

Years of Western sanctions have battered the OPEC member nation’s economy, causing high inflation, unemployment and the collapse of its currency, the rial.

The current protests were triggered by the mounting economic woes, which the Iranian government has struggled to address, partly due to its economic isolation.

Its main source of revenue comes from exports to China, Turkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India.

So how will Trump’s threat on Monday impact Iran’s international trade? How will countries like China, which buys 80 percent of Iran’s oil, respond?

What did Trump say?

“Effective immediately, any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff ⁠of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“This Order is final and conclusive,” the US president wrote without providing further details.

There was no official documentation about the policy from the White House on its website or information about the legal authority Trump ‍would use to impose ⁠the tariffs.

Trump has piled pressure on Iran’s leaders, including by threatening military action.

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran is ready for war if Washington wants to “test” it in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Arabic on Monday.

“If Washington wants to test the military option it has tested before, we are ready for it,” Araghchi said, adding that he hoped the US would choose “the wise option” of dialogue while warning of “those trying to drag Washington into war in order to serve Israel’s interests”.

Who are Iran’s main trading partners, and what is the volume of trade?

China

China is Iran’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade of more than $13bn in 2024, according to United Nations Comtrade, a global database of official international trade statistics.

However, due to sanctions, a lot of the trade takes place through a shadow fleet and is not officially recorded. For instance, World Bank data from 2022 suggested the overall trade volume between China and Iran was worth $37bn.

China imported 80 percent of Iran’s oil last year, providing much-needed revenue as other major oil buyers, such as India, drastically cut back their imports after US sanctions were imposed during Trump’s first term in office.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said China has been Iran’s top trading partner since 2016. The trade has provided an “economic lifeline to Iran”, she said.

“China does not just buy oil. It also purchases other things, such as plastics, iron ore and chemicals. It’s also a major buyer of Iran’s methanol. There are reports that China was considering even increasing its purchase of Iranian oil in the light of the turbulence now in Venezuela,” she said.

The new tariff, the Al Jazeera correspondent said, “is really going to hurt Chinese manufacturers” because it will apply on top of the 35 percent tariff that Chinese goods already face in the US.

The potential new tariff comes months after the US and China announced a trade truce, bringing down China’s tariff from more than 100 to 35 percent following a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Trump in October on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.

The Al Jazeera correspondent said the new tariff threat “not only could jeopardise the current stability that we have between Beijing and Washington, it will also jeopardise Trump’s planned trip to Beijing in April this year”.

The Chinese embassy in Washington condemned Trump’s policy, warning that Beijing would take “all necessary measures” to defend its interests and rejecting what it called “illicit unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction”.

“China’s stance against the arbitrary use of tariffs has been consistent and clear. No one wins in tariff or trade wars, and coercion and pressure are not a solution,” an embassy spokesperson said on X.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said, “There are no winners in a trade war.”

“China will resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” Mao told reporters on Tuesday.

Stressing that China wants peace in the Middle East, Mao said Beijing supports Iran to “maintain national stability” and “oppose[s] interfering in the country’s internal affairs and the use, or threat of use, of force in international affairs”.

Turkiye

According to the UN Comtrade data from 2024, Turkiye was Iran’s second largest trading partner. The trade between the two countries was worth about $5.7bn.

Turkiye faces a baseline tariff from the US of 15 percent. Since June, the US has doubled its tariffs on steel and aluminium from most of its trading partners, including Turkiye, raising them from 25 to 50 percent.

Pakistan

Pakistan is a top export destination for Iran, where the total value of exports was about $1.2bn in 2024.

Pakistani exports to the US face a 19 percent tariff at the moment.

India

India is a top export destination for Iran, where the total value of exports was just over $1.05bn in 2024.

India faces 50 percent US duties on its steel and aluminium. A range of other Indian exports also faces a 50 percent tariff from the US.

Last week, media reports said the Trump administration is planning to slap 500 percent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil.

How have sanctions impacted Iran’s exports?

The US has imposed sanctions to cut off funding for Tehran’s nuclear ‌programme. Washington accuses Iran of planning to make a nuclear bomb. But Iran has insisted that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only and has allowed inspections by the global nuclear watchdog.

But after the US bombed a nuclear plant during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, Tehran imposed restrictions on the nuclear inspections. Talks to break the logjam have stalled as Tehran has accused the US of imposing conditions.

Fuel is Iran’s biggest export item by value while major imports include intermediate goods, vegetables, machinery and equipment.

Iran exported products to 147 trading partners in 2022, ⁠according to the most recent data from the World Bank.

Most of the sanctions on Iran were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal under US President Barack Obama, but three years later, Trump withdrew the US from the deal, which had put limits on Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

He also imposed additional sanctions targeting petrochemicals, metals (steel, aluminium and copper) and senior Iranian officials as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

The reimposition of US sanctions since 2018 has squeezed oil exports and access to global finance. Iran’s oil exports fell by about 60 to 80 percent, stripping the government of tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita fell from more than $8,000 in 2012 to just over $6,000 by 2017 and a little above $5,000 in 2024, according to World Bank data.

Iran was exporting about 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in 2011. Those exports fell sharply after 2018 to an all-time low of just over 400,000bpd in 2020. Exports have gradually risen to about 1.5 million bpd in 2025 but still remain below their pre‑2018 levels.

Foreign trade has brought billions of dollars to Iran’s economy.