US officials secretly met with Ansarallah delegation in Oman: Report
The Yemeni delegation reportedly told US embassy officials that they would not strike US or Israeli ships, but would continue to impose a blockade on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea
Members of Yemen's ruling Ansarallah resistance movement secretly met with US officials in Oman following the liberation of the country's western coast, according to informed sources who spoke with Reuters.
The meeting took place at the US Embassy in Muscat, three sources said on condition of anonymity.
Ansarallah “told US officials they had no intention of attacking [US] vessels and that they were committed to the 2025 ceasefire with the US,” the report said.
Ansarallah “said they would not attack Israeli ships or any commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.”
Washington’s side was represented by US embassy personnel, according to Reuters.
The Yemeni delegation reportedly included spokesman and top negotiator Mohammad Abdul Salam, who is under US sanctions.
“We have no comment on this specific reported meeting,” the US State Department told Reuters.
Oman's embassy in the US, as well as Abdul Salam, did not respond to requests for comment.
With mediation from Oman, Sanaa and Washington reached a ceasefire in May 2025 after a brutal campaign launched by US President Donald Trump failed to deter or impact the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF).
Trump called Ansarallah “tough fighters” at the time.
Israel was not part of the deal and continued to face Yemeni missile strikes until the so-called “ceasefire” plan for Gaza was launched in October 2025.
Sanaa’s retaliatory actions against Saudi Arabia were triggered by the July attack on Sanaa International Airport, which has been under blockade by the kingdom for over a decade since Riyadh began its devastating war on Yemen in 2015, leading a coalition of Arab states.
Yemen has vowed to fully expel the Saudi-led coalition from Yemen. On Wednesday, the YAF shot down a US-made Saudi F-15 warplane.
Maritime data revealed this week that Saudi Arabia has paused its oil exports.
Several Saudi tankers have been hit by the YAF in recent weeks. According to the YAF, five have been hit in the Red Sea while three others were hit in the Gulf of Oman.
Aramco sites across the country have also been repeatedly targeted, forcing facilities to shut down.
Forty-eight Saudi tankers have been rerouted away from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to a 19 August YAF statement.
An unclaimed attack recently targeted Saudi Arabia’s key East–West Pipeline, causing severe damage.
Last week, Sanaa's forces seized multiple Red Sea islands as well as the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, while liberating much of the western coast from Saudi-backed forces.