UAE Withdraws from OPEC After 60 Years

The United Arab Emirates withdrew from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Tuesday, marking the end of its 60-year membership in the oil cartel and signaling a shift in Gulf energy dynamics amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.

The decision came as the UAE reassessed its regional alliances following Iran's air strikes on Gulf states, including hundreds of attacks targeting UAE territory. Those strikes followed U.S. and Israeli actions against Iran on February 28. UAE presidential diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash described the assaults as "brutal and preplanned" aggression posing a long-term threat, adding that previous Gulf policies to contain Iran through diplomacy or economics "have failed miserably." He spoke at a conference in Dubai on Monday.

The UAE's move also coincided with reduced diplomatic engagement at an emergency Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Jeddah on Tuesday. Rather than sending its president or vice president, the UAE dispatched Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a step officials framed as prioritizing economic autonomy but which observers viewed as a signal of distancing from Saudi leadership.

Long-standing tensions between the...