US officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter say, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.
The meeting, which has not been made public, was held at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources say on the condition of anonymity. Two sources say that Oman’s government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organize the meeting.
The Trump administration designated the Houthis a “foreign terrorist organization” in March 2025, criminalizing support for the group. But Washington has negotiated with them since, reaching a ceasefire in May last year after bombing the group for two months to halt a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had phoned his administration asking the United States to keep out of the Yemen war. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday the United States was in direct contact with the group, without giving details.
In the meeting, which one source says took place on Sunday, the Houthis told US officials that they have no intention of attacking American vessels and that they are committed to the 2025 ceasefire with the US, two sources say.
One of the sources, a Yemeni, says the militia group also said they would not attack Israeli ships or any commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.
According to two of the sources, the US side was represented by embassy personnel.
One of those sources says the Houthi delegation included a senior official based in Muscat who is under US sanctions, Mohammad Abdulsalam. Another source confirms Abdulsalam’s presence along with that of another senior Houthi official, Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.
Asked whether the US has met with the Houthis in Oman, a State Department spokesperson does not confirm the meeting, but says safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East are core US interests.
Oman’s embassy in the US and senior Houthi official Abdulsalam do not respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis last week seized effective control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline, including the historic port of Mokha, and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb, or “Gate of Tears” strait, at the sea’s mouth.
Posted by John3262005
4 Comments
Man, Saudi Arabia is not having a good time right now.
Honestly, this news shouldn’t surprise me.
Literally in the first months, there was the truce after bombing them for weeks, which essentially bought things back to the status quo
Also, the Trump administration made the deal with the Taliban in the first administration
So I feel like I should be shocked but no not really
Really owning this oil price increases then
What do Houthis want? Complete control over Yemen?
Remember when the Houthis joined the conflict by saying they wouldn’t stop targeting ships unless the war in Gaza had a ceasefire ?
What happened to that?
“You might even get tired of winning”