US officials met Houthis in Oman over the weekend, sources say

Two sources said that Oman's government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organise the meeting.The Trump administration designated the Houthis a "foreign terrorist organisation" in March 2025, criminalising 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.President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had phoned his administration asking the US to keep out of the Yemen war.

Vice President JD Vance said on Monday the US was in direct contact with the group, without giving details.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 group also said they would….

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….

The war had quietened 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.Saudi Arabia's 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.

US officials met Houthis in Oman over the weekend, sources say Updated 6 minutes ago.