A senior official with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels is warning countries against joining Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s revived civil war CAIRO -- A senior official with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels is warning countries against joining Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s revived civil war, telling The on Sunday that his group has assured the Trump administration that it won’t attack U.S. vessels in the Red Sea. Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, said Washington reached out to the rebels after their rapid advance down Yemen’s western coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this month. President Donald Trump last weekend said his administration has “had discussions” with the Houthis, but did not say when.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. However, al-Bukhaiti only confirmed indirect contacts with U.S. officials through longtime mediator Oman, which brokered a 2025 ceasefire between the Houthis and the Trump administration. That ended a weekslong U.S. bombing campaign against the rebels in return for them ceasing attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea.
Al-Bukhaiti said the rebels have the capacity to fight a war 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 said the Houthi attacks against neighboring Saudi Arabia will persist until Riyadh ends its decade-long blockade on rebel-held areas in Yemen and allows vessels to reach Houthi-controlled ports on the Red Sea. Then they will be ready to negotiate, he said.
Al-Bukhaiti blamed Saudi Arabia for the latest escalation of violence in Yemen, which he said erupted after an airstrike blamed on the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels hit the Sanaa international airport. The strike prevented an Iranian flight carrying a Houthi delegation to land. The flight was a Houthi attempt to challenge the coalition's air and naval blockade.
The Houthis responded with missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, including one that targeted Riyadh on Saturday before being intercepted. Saudi officials said debris from a Houthi drone also killed one civilian and injured others. The Houthis also declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, attacking Saudi-linked vessels and oil facilities inside the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter.
The Saudis and their allies have long struggled to contain the Houthis, and may be tempted to seek a diplomatic solution to halt attacks. That might ultimately require U.S. concessions to Iran, the only country with leverage over the Houthis. But Washington's negotiations with Tehran over their own war fell apart weeks ago.
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