Yemen's Houthi rebels have been communicating with US officials to assure Washington that their takeover of the Red Sea coast overlooking the Bab Al Mandeb strait will not lead to attacks on American ships, sources in Sanaa told The National on Thursday.
The news comes days after US Vice President JD Vance said that Washington has been engaged in “direct conversations” with the Houthis and is “on top” of the situation following the Iran-backed group's seizure of the western coast.
Two political sources in Sanaa briefed on the Houthis' military strategies confirmed that talks were indirect, mainly through Oman, where the rebels have had a presence since the start of the Yemeni conflict More than a decade ago.
“There is communication with the Americans, but it is indirect. The indirect communication has taken place through the Omanis – there has never been any direct communication with the Americans,” said one of the sources. “The Americans convey their messages only through the Omani mediator,” the source added.
US and Israeli strikes have hit Houthi positions in Yemen in several phases since the Gaza war in October 2023 turned into a regional conflict. Israel has also launched attacks against the rebels, who control the Yemeni capital and much of the north and west.
The US had reached an agreement with the rebels to halt its strikes in exchange for an end to Houthi attacks on American ships in the Red Sea and those passing through the Bab Al Mandeb strait, which the group can now try to attack more easily. Sources confirmed that, despite vowing to attack US ships months ago, the rebels have told the US they will commit to the truce terms.
“The Yemenis did not target American ships until the Americans intervened last year. Houthis have had an agreement with the US since then to refrain from targeting their ships, and they remain committed to that agreement,” explained a source.
A Yemeni source told Reuters on Wednesday that the rebels pledged not to attack Israeli ships or other commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia. But The National could not confirm the information from other sources.
The Houthis have built much of their narrative around the Palestinian cause, claiming their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and on Israel are aimed at pressuring the Israeli military to ease its war in Gaza.
However, recent developments, including renewed attacks on civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia and their takeover of Yemen's western coast with Iranian support, suggest the rebels have been pursuing a broader goal, which is to influence regional developments to advance both their own expansion and Tehran's interests.
Sources in Tehran, Aden and Cairo who spoke to The National in recent days detailed a plan by Iran to use the conflict in Yemen as a new pressure point in its war with the US. From a field operative wanted by Washington to a joint operations room, the emerging web of Iranian activity shows how one geopolitical conflict is increasingly linking two of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab Al Mandeb.
Houthis experimenting with new weapons
The takeover of Yemen's western coast is significant for the Houthis, and gives them greater ability to connect with allies across the Horn of Africa, including Al Shabab in Somalia and, reportedly, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while expanding smuggling networks.
New findings by Conflict Armament Research said the Houthis are experimenting with new weapons such as “loitering torpedoes” as they increase their ability to wage war in Yemen and launch attacks across the Middle East. While long-range Houthi strikes have attracted the most attention, the rebels can also draw on an array of close-range drones and anti-tank weapons as they push to the sea in Yemen.
On Tuesday, Massad Boulos, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, told the Arab Media Summit in Dubai that freedom of navigation in the Red Sea was a “red line” for the US President and hinted that developments were already moving in a positive direction.
“We remain in regular communication with our regional allies and partners regarding Yemen and are focused on our shared counterterrorism goals against the Houthis and other terrorist groups that sow chaos throughout the region,” a State Department official told The National earlier this week.
