US Officials Held Weekend Talks With Houthis in Oman, Sources Say

US officials met representatives of Yemen's Houthi movement in Oman over the weekend, according to five people familiar with the matter, in an encounter that has not been publicly announced.

The talks took place at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Two sources said Oman's government, which has long acted as a regional mediator, helped arrange the meeting. One source placed it on Sunday.

According to two sources, the Houthi delegation told the American side that it did not intend to attack US vessels and that it remained committed to the 2025 ceasefire with Washington. A Yemeni source said the group also pledged not to target Israeli ships or other commercial vessels, with the exception of those belonging to Saudi Arabia.

The US side was represented by embassy personnel, two sources said. The Houthi delegation included Mohammad Abdulsalam, a senior official based in Muscat who is under US sanctions, according to one source, while another confirmed his presence along with that of senior Houthi official Abdelmalik al-Ajiri.

Asked about the meeting, a State Department spokesperson said: "We have no comment on this specific reported meeting." The spokesperson added that protecting 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 Washington and Abdulsalam did not respond to requests for comment.

The contact follows a striking Houthi advance. Last week the group took effective control of Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline, including the historic port of Mocha and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, routing forces backed by Saudi Arabia.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had phoned his administration to ask the United States to stay out of the Yemen war. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Washington was in direct contact with the group, without providing details.

The Trump administration designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation in March 2025, a step that criminalises support for the group. Washington has nonetheless negotiated with it since, reaching a ceasefire in May last year after two months of bombing aimed at halting attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The Houthis seized Yemen's capital in 2014 and have fought a Saudi-led coalition for more than a decade. The conflict had quietened under a ceasefire in recent years, but fighting resumed in July when the group declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea in response to a Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports.

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, called Trump last week to seek US military support amid the Houthi advances. Washington has told Riyadh it would not become directly involved.