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Muscat, Oman — September 16, 2026
U.S. officials held a previously undisclosed meeting with representatives of Yemen’s Houthi movement in Oman over the weekend, according to Reuters, citing five sources familiar with the matter — a meeting that came days after the Iran-backed group seized a strategic stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in an offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.
The meeting was held Sunday at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources said, with Oman’s government — a longtime regional mediator — helping to organize it. Two sources said U.S. embassy personnel represented the American side.
The Houthi delegation reportedly included Mohammad Abdulsalam, a senior Houthi official based in Muscat who is under U.S. sanctions, and Abdelmalik al-Ajiri, another senior Houthi figure. During the talks, the Houthis told American officials they had no intention of attacking U.S. vessels and remained committed to a ceasefire reached with Washington in 2025. One Yemeni source told Reuters the group also pledged not to target Israeli ships or other commercial vessels, with the specific exception of vessels belonging to Saudi Arabia.
A State Department spokesperson did not confirm the meeting when asked, saying only that safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East remain core U.S. interests. Oman’s embassy in Washington and Abdulsalam did not respond to requests for comment.
Background: a rapidly shifting Red Sea front
The Houthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization since March 2025, took effective control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline last week, including the historic port of Mocha and Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the narrow “Gate of Tears” chokepoint at the sea’s mouth, through which a significant share of global shipping passes. The group has fought a Saudi-led coalition for more than a decade since seizing Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, in 2014, in a war that has killed more than 100,000 people and drawn heavy international criticism of Saudi Arabia’s bombing campaign. Fighting had subsided following an earlier ceasefire but resumed in July after the Houthis announced a blockade on Saudi shipping in response to a Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports.
In the days following the Houthi offensive, Saudi warplanes struck Yemen as the group consolidated its territorial gains, and the U.S. hardened its travel guidance for Saudi Arabia, barring government personnel from approaching within 20 miles of the Yemeni border.
Additional claims — unverified
Separate social media reports circulating alongside the Reuters story have offered a more detailed account, claiming President Donald Trump personally negotiated an arrangement in which the U.S. would not strike Houthi-held territory or support Saudi Arabia and Saudi-backed forces, in exchange for the Houthis keeping the Bab el-Mandeb open to shipping other than Saudi vessels. Those same reports claim Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) called Trump twice requesting U.S. airstrikes and support against the Houthis, and was refused both times.
These specific claims — a direct Trump-brokered quid pro quo and the MBS phone calls — could not be independently verified against Reuters’ published reporting, which describes a meeting between U.S. embassy staff and Houthi representatives and does not attribute a personal negotiation to Trump or detail any Trump-MBS phone exchange. Reuters has separately reported that Washington told Riyadh it would not get directly involved militarily in the renewed fighting, which is consistent with the broader thrust of the unverified claims, though the specific details remain unconfirmed.
