US officials met with Houthi leaders over the weekend at the American embassy in Muscat, Oman, resulting in a decision to withhold military support for Saudi Arabia’s efforts to counter a Houthi advance in western Yemen. During the meeting, the Houthi delegation reiterated that a ceasefire agreement established in 2025 remained in effect and assured the US that American vessels in the Red Sea would not be targeted, with their military actions directed solely at Saudi-linked shipping due to the Saudi blockade of Yemen.
US Vice President JD Vance confirmed direct contact between Washington and the Houthis, and the Trump administration’s position reflects concerns about already substantial resource commitments in conflicts with Iran, which backs the Houthi movement. Despite condemning the Houthi territorial gains and their implications for navigation through the Bab al-Mandab strait, the administration has ruled out direct military intervention. This decision has shifted pressure toward Saudi Arabia, which now faces a choice between pursuing diplomatic negotiations with the Houthis regarding Yemen’s future governance or assembling a regional coalition with Pakistan and Turkey.
Saudi Arabia claimed that Houthis launched a drone attack on Mecca last week, which it said was intercepted by its defense systems near the holy city’s most sacred sites. The kingdom characterized any assault on Mecca as crossing a critical threshold and received condemnation from the UN-recognized Yemeni government and the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Houthi leadership disputed the allegation, with their deputy foreign minister offering a sharp political response, while military officials countered that they had shot down a Saudi F-15 aircraft near Marib and struck an Aramco facility in Yanbu.
Separately, Israeli and Arab military officials gathered in Germany for discussions on regional security strategy, representing the first such multilateral meeting since hostilities between the US and Israel against Iran escalated six months prior. Israel has offered to intervene in Yemen on Saudi Arabia’s behalf. Concurrently, Iran’s foreign minister met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing to discuss the Strait of Hormuz and seek regional support, while China called on the US to resume negotiations based on a June agreement.
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