Report: U.S. Officials Met With Houthis to Prevent Attacks on American Targets

American officials met with Houthi representatives over the past weekend, Reuters reported today (Wednesday). The meeting took place in Oman, just days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of coastline along the Red Sea during a large-scale offensive in which it defeated Saudi-backed forces.

According to the report, the meeting was held at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, encouraged by the Omani government, which has long served as a regional mediator with Iran. It focused on trying to prevent a Houthi attack on American targets and on ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is now under Houthi control.

It should be noted that the Trump administration designated the Houthis a "foreign terrorist organization" in March 2025, a move that made supporting the group a criminal offense. Nevertheless, Washington has negotiated with them since then and reached a ceasefire agreement last May. This came after it bombed the group for two months in an effort to stop its campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had contacted his administration by phone and asked the United States not to intervene in the war in Yemen. Vice President J.D. Vance said the day before yesterday that the U.S. is in direct contact with the group, without providing further details.

At the meeting, which one source said took place on Sunday, the Houthis told American officials that they did not intend to attack American vessels and that they remain committed to the ceasefire agreement with the U.S. According to the Houthis, the attacks would be directed only against Saudi vessels.

The report said that, according to two sources, the American side was represented by embassy staff. The Houthi delegation included a senior official based in Muscat who is under U.S. sanctions, Mohammed Abdulsalam. Another source confirmed Abdulsalam's presence, as well as that of another senior Houthi official, Abdulmalik al-Ajri.

In response to a question about whether the U.S. had met with the Houthis in Oman, a State Department spokesperson did not confirm that the meeting took place, but noted that preserving freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East are key American interests.