Houthis met US officials in Oman, promised not to hit American, Israeli ships — sources

US officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.

News of the meeting came as renewed fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Houthis continued, along with condemnations of an alleged Houthi strike targeting the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

The meeting, which had not previously been made public, was held at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Two sources said that Oman’s government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organize the meeting.

In the meeting, which one source said took place on Sunday, the Iran-backed Houthis told US officials that they had no intention of attacking American vessels and that they were committed to a 2025 ceasefire with the US, two sources said.

One of the sources, a Yemeni, said the militia group also said they would not attack Israeli ships or any commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre and subsequent war in Gaza, the Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — routinely attacked Israeli-linked ships and fired multiple missiles and drones at Israel.

In response, Israel attacked the Houthis in Yemen, located some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) away, 19 times with the Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy. The attacks largely ended with the Israel-Hamas ceasefire last year.

According to two of the sources, the US side was represented by embassy personnel.

The Trump administration designated the Houthis a “foreign terrorist organization” in March 2025, criminalizing support for the group as it embarked on a two-month bombing campaign against it to halt a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping. But Washington has negotiated with them since, reaching a ceasefire that May.

US President Donald Trump had said on Saturday that the Houthis had phoned his administration asking the United States to keep out of the Yemen war. US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday the United States was in direct contact with the group, without giving details.

One of those sources said the Houthi delegation included a senior official based in Muscat who is under US sanctions, Mohammad Abdulsalam. Another source confirmed Abdulsalam’s presence along with that of another senior Houthi official, Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.

Asked whether the US had met with the Houthis in Oman, a State Department spokesperson did not confirm the meeting, but said safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East were core US interests.

Oman’s embassy in the US and Abdulsalam did 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 Strait at the sea’s mouth, a key bottleneck for the global oil supply.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump last week seeking US military support amid the dramatic Houthi advances. Reuters has reported that Washington told Riyadh it would not get directly involved.

The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital in 2014, have fought against a Saudi-led coalition for more than a decade. The war had quieted under a ceasefire in recent years, but fighting resumed in July when the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea in response to a Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports.

Houthis claim to down Saudi F-15

Despite the reported meeting between Houthi and US officials, the Iran-backed group has continued to launch attacks against Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, the Houthis said they targeted an Aramco facility in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, in Saudi Arabia, as well as an airbase in southern Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree said Riyadh had launched more than 450 airstrikes this week, and that in response, the Iran-backed group “targeted the Aramco facility in Yanbu with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones” causing fires, as well as “the Khamis Mushait air base.”

Earlier, Saree said the Houthis had also shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet. No immediate evidence was presented of that incident.

The latest attack followed accusations from the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis that the group had, on Tuesday, targeted Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, sparking outrage across the Muslim world.

A spokesperson for the military coalition said Saudi Arabia’s air defenses had destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it could enter prohibited airspace over the holy city.

The Houthis denied firing a drone at the city, but Riyadh nevertheless condemned the “cowardly terrorist attack.”

The Gulf kingdom “reaffirms its legitimate right to take all necessary measures to defend the security of the two holy mosques, the pilgrims, and the entire Saudi territory, its citizens, and its residents,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Fahmy likewise condemned the alleged Mecca attack, warning that “compromising the security of Mecca and the sanctity of Islamic holy sites is a matter of extreme gravity.”

Qatar also condemned the attack.

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report