WASHINGTON: US officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter said. The meeting, which has not 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.
The Trump administration designated the Houthis a “foreign terrorist organization” in March 2025, criminalizing support for the group. But Washington has negotiated with them since, reaching a ceasefire in May last year after bombing the group for two months to halt a campaign of attacks on Red Sea shipping.
In the meeting, which one source said took place on Sunday, the Houthis told US officials that they had no intention of attacking American vessels and that they were committed to the 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.
According to two of the sources, the US side was represented by embassy personnel.
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 senior Houthi official Abdulsalam did not respond to a request for comment.
