Senior U.S. officials have held a first direct meeting with officials from the Iran-backed Houthi organization that controls Yemen’s capital, Reuters reports, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
According to the Reuters exclusive, the discussions, “which have not been officially made public by either side, took place in the Omani capital Muscat on Feb. 26 between U.S. Yemen envoy Timothy Lenderking and the Houthis’ chief negotiator Mohammed Abdusalam,” the sources said.
The meeting is a bid by the new U.S. Administration to bring an end to the nearly 6 year-old war in Yemen.
State Department spokesman Ned Price in a briefing on Wednesday declined to confirm or deny whether Lenderking met with the Houthis but said he was now back in Riyadh for further consultations with Saudi officials.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis continue to attack Saudi Arabia’s sovereign territory with missile attacks, cross-border drone bombings, and other terrorist tactics.
In ceasefire talks, Saudi Arabia “has been seeking assurances on border security” and prioritizing a buffer zone inside Yemen along the border, according to the Reuters report. The Houthis want an end to blockades on the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and Sanaa airport.
Saudi Arabia has pledged $430 million to fund the United Nations Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2021, the Supervisor General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief).
The new U.S. administration has repeatedly emphasized the Kingdom’s right to defend itself and is seeking a political solution to the Yemen conflict that would enable that country to rebuild and for Saudi Arabia to continue its economic reform goals with its territory secure from Iranian-backed attacks.
