US diplomats met Houthi representatives in Muscat, Reuters and Axios report
Yemen Herald News 
MUSCAT, Oman — United States officials met Houthi representatives at the American embassy here over the weekend, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Neither side announced the meeting.
Oman’s government, a longstanding mediator between Washington and the group, helped arrange it, two of those people said.
The United States was represented by embassy personnel, according to the report.
The Houthi delegation included Mohammed Abdulsalam, a senior official based in Muscat who is under US sanctions, and Abdulmalik al-Ajri, the sources said.
Axios reported the meeting separately on Tuesday, citing a regional source, and said Reuters had reported it first.
Vice President JD Vance said Monday the administration was in direct conversations with the Houthis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed de-escalation with Oman’s foreign minister, Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, on Tuesday, the State Department said.
A State Department spokesperson said the department had no comment on the reported meeting.
The spokesperson said safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and preventing the export of terrorism from the Middle East were core American interests.
The Houthis have not confirmed that the meeting took place.
The Houthi representatives told the American officials they remained committed to the ceasefire reached in 2025, the sources said.
They also said the group would not target American or Israeli vessels, according to the report.
The meeting followed a Houthi advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
The group took the port city of Mocha and areas near the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the week to 10 September, routing forces backed by Saudi Arabia.
It also took the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands in the Red Sea during the advance.
The strait links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carries a large share of shipping between Europe and Asia.
President Donald Trump’s administration designated the Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization in March 2025.
The designation makes material support for the group a criminal offence under US law.
Washington later opened talks with the Houthis all the same.
The two sides reached a ceasefire in May 2025 after an American bombing campaign that ran for about two months.
Oman mediated that agreement.
The designation of the group as a terrorist organisation remains in place.
The State Department spokesperson did not address whether the designation affected the contacts described in the report.
That campaign was intended to halt Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis began attacking ships there in late 2023, saying the campaign was tied to the war in Gaza.
Traffic through the Suez Canal fell steeply as a result.
The Bab al-Mandab is among the world’s most heavily used maritime chokepoints.
Trump said on Saturday that the Houthis had contacted his administration.
He said he had declined a Saudi request to intervene militarily on the kingdom’s behalf.
Iran rejected the prospect of talks with the United States after those remarks.
The UN Security Council met on 15 September to discuss the Houthi takeover of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, at the request of France, which holds the council presidency.
An assistant secretary-general told the council the advance towards the chokepoint raised the risk of a wider conflict.
Yemen’s ambassador to the United Nations said the strait was at risk of becoming a blackmail card in the hands of the group.
“Yemen is not asking the world to defend it. Yemen is already defending the interests of the world,” the envoy told the council.
He urged other countries to share responsibility for securing the waterway.
The Houthis, who call themselves Ansar Allah, hold most of northwestern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.
They have controlled Sanaa since 2014. The government has been based in Aden since then.
Fighting resumed in July after the group declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and began attacking ships linked to the kingdom.
A truce brokered by the United Nations had halted large-scale fighting in 2022.
Oman has hosted contacts between the Houthis and foreign governments for years.
It has not commented publicly on the reported meeting.
It did not take part in the Saudi-led military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015.
Abdulsalam has led Houthi delegations at talks held in Muscat and elsewhere, and has acted as the group’s main spokesman in dealings with foreign governments.
Al-Ajri has taken part in Houthi negotiating teams at previous rounds of talks.
The United States placed him under sanctions before the group’s designation as a terrorist organisation.
The recent fighting has driven large numbers of people from their homes.
The United Nations refugee agency said at least 100,000 people had left their homes across Yemen since the fighting resumed.
The International Organization for Migration put the figure at 85,818 on 14 September.
More than 2,400 people crossed the Bab al-Mandab Strait to Djibouti over four days to 15 September, UNHCR said.
The UN humanitarian plan issued in March 2026 recorded more than 22 million Yemenis in need of assistance.
It listed 18.3 million people as acutely food insecure and sought 2.16 billion dollars to reach 12 million people.
Shipping through the Red Sea fell sharply after the Houthis began attacking vessels, and many operators rerouted around southern Africa.
Saudi Arabia said on 15 September that it would respond firmly to Houthi attacks.
The State Department spokesperson did not say whether further contacts were planned.
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