US officials met Houthis in Oman over the weekend: Reuters

U.S. officials met representatives of Yemen's Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter said, ‌days after the  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 U.S. 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 organise the meeting.

In the meeting, which one source said took place on Sunday, the Houthis told U.S. officials that they had no intention of attacking American vessels and that they were committed to the 2025 ceasefire with the U.S., 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.

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

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

Asked whether the U.S. 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 U.S. interests.

Oman's embassy in the U.S. ⁠and senior Houthi official Abdulsalam did not respond to a request for comment.

Reuters