CAIRO – A senior Houthi official has warned countries against joining Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s renewed conflict, while telling The Associated Press that the Iran-backed group has assured the Trump administration it will not target U.S. ships in the Red Sea.
Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, said U.S. officials contacted the rebels after their forces quickly moved along Yemen’s western coast toward the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month.
“We confirmed that we are not targeting the United States, or any other nation, in the strait, with the sole exception of the Saudi enemy,” al-Bukhaiti said in a Zoom interview with the AP from the rebel-held capital, Sanaa. “That remains the case.”
President Donald Trump said last weekend that his administration had “had discussions” with the Houthis, though he did not specify when they took place. “The Houthis called us, and they don’t want to fight with us,” Trump said. “They would much prefer not having us involved, and they’re letting most ships go through.”
The AP subsequently reported that Oman hosted talks between U.S. and Houthi representatives the previous weekend. The report cited a Houthi official and another person familiar with the negotiations, both of whom spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.
Al-Bukhaiti confirmed only indirect communication with U.S. officials through Oman, a longtime mediator that brokered a 2025 truce between Washington and the Houthis. That agreement brought an end to a weeks-long U.S. bombing campaign after the rebels pledged to stop attacking American vessels in the Red Sea.
“The goal of our military operations is not to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but rather to ensure freedom of navigation through it for everyone, including Yemen,” al-Bukhaiti said.
The Houthis say they are prepared to fight on several fronts
Al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis could sustain a conflict on multiple fronts “should any nation become implicated in the aggression against Yemen alongside Saudi Arabia.”
“Today, Yemen is capable of waging battle — not merely an internal conflict, but an international one as well,” he said.
He added that Houthi strikes against Saudi Arabia would continue until Riyadh lifts its decade-long blockade of rebel-held parts of Yemen and permits ships to reach ports on the Red Sea under Houthi control. After that, he said, the group would be prepared to negotiate.
Al-Bukhaiti held Saudi Arabia responsible for the latest surge in violence, saying the escalation began after an airstrike attributed to the Saudi-led coalition struck Sanaa International Airport. The attack stopped an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from landing. The flight had been part of the group’s effort to challenge the coalition’s air and naval blockade.
The Houthis retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a strike aimed at Riyadh on Saturday that was intercepted. Saudi authorities said falling debris from a Houthi drone killed one civilian and wounded several others.
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The rebels also announced a blockade of Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, targeting Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter.
Saudi Arabia and its allies have struggled for years to defeat or contain the Houthis, potentially increasing pressure for a diplomatic settlement to stop the attacks. Reaching one could ultimately require U.S. concessions to Iran, which remains the only country viewed as having significant influence over the rebels. However, Washington’s own negotiations with Tehran over their separate conflict collapsed weeks ago.
The United States, which conducted strikes against the Houthis during both the Biden and Trump administrations, has shown little indication that it intends to intervene militarily in the latest escalation.
The rebels say the balance of power has shifted
The Houthi advance through Yemen brought the important port of Mokha and several Red Sea islands under their control, strengthening their ability to monitor maritime traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb. About 12% of global trade normally passes through the strategic waterway.
Saudi-backed government forces, which have long been divided among competing factions, pulled back from the advancing rebels but said they would reorganize and return to the fight.
The latest escalation brought an end to a ceasefire established in 2022 that had largely halted the fighting in Yemen’s civil war. The conflict began 12 years ago, when the Houthis moved out of their mountainous stronghold and captured much of northern and central Yemen, including Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year on behalf of the internationally recognized government. The civil war killed at least 150,000 people, according to U.N. estimates, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Now, with Houthis in control of Yemen’s western coast overlooking the Red Sea shipping corridor, “the balance of power has shifted in favor of the Sanaa government,” al-Bukhaiti said, referring to the rebels’ de facto authorities there.
“Ultimately, (Saudi Arabia) lost its most critical card: the west coast,” he said.
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