Reuters: US officials hold secret talks with Houthis in Oman

U.S. officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, days after the Iran-backed group seized a strategic stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in an offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.

The meeting, which has not previously been made public, was held at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, according to three of the sources. Two sources said Oman, a longtime regional mediator, helped arrange the talks.

The meeting came despite Washington’s designation of the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organisation” in March 2025, which criminalised support for the group. The Trump administration has nevertheless negotiated with the Houthis, reaching a ceasefire in May 2025 after two months of U.S. strikes aimed at halting attacks on Red Sea shipping.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had contacted his administration and asked the United States to stay out of the Yemen war. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Washington was in direct contact with the group but provided no details.

According to two sources, the Houthis told U.S. officials during the meeting that they had no intention of attacking American vessels and remained committed to the 2025 ceasefire with Washington.

One Yemeni source said the Houthis also told U.S. officials they would not attack Israeli ships or commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. delegation was represented by embassy personnel, according to two sources. One source said the Houthi delegation included senior official Mohammad Abdulsalam, who is based in Muscat and is under U.S. sanctions. Another source confirmed Abdulsalam’s presence along with senior Houthi official Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson did not confirm that the meeting took place but said safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East were core U.S. interests.

Oman’s embassy in Washington and Abdulsalam did not respond to requests for comment.

The talks followed a major Houthi advance along Yemen’s western coast. The group last week seized effective control of the country’s entire Red Sea coastline, including the historic port of Mocha and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb, or “Gate of Tears,” strait.

The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and have fought a Saudi-led coalition for more than a decade. Fighting had eased under a ceasefire in recent years, but resumed in July after the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea in response to a Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, called Trump last week to seek U.S. military support amid the Houthi advances. Reuters has reported that Washington told Riyadh it would not become directly involved in the conflict.

By Sabina Mammadli