Houthi official claims US offered to recognize Sanaa government; US official denies it

The U.S. offered to recognize the Houthi government in Sanaa in an effort to halt the Yemeni rebel group's attacks, a senior Houthi official said Monday, a claim a U.S. official later denied.

The Houthi official's statement came a day after a ballistic missile from the Iran-aligned group reached central Israel for the first time, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn that Israel would inflict a "heavy price" on them.

"There is always communication after every operation we conduct," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement's political bureau, told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV. "These calls are based on either threats or presenting some temptations, but they have failed to achieve any success in that direction."

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called the remarks "a total fabrication."

Separately, a U.S. State Department official said, "Houthi propaganda is rarely true or newsworthy. Coverage like this gives a false sense of credibility to their misinformation."

Al-Bukhaiti said the post-attack calls included some from the U.S. and the United Kingdom, made indirectly through mediators, and that the threats included the possibility of direct U.S. military intervention against countries that intervene militarily "in support of Gaza."

Reuters