US rebuffs Saudi request to intervene in Yemen after Houthi talks

Houthis dismiss Saudi claim of Mecca drone attack as ‘lie of the century’

The United States has decided not to intervene militarily to help Saudi Arabia reverse a Houthi advance in western Yemen, following a weekend meeting between US officials and Houthi leaders at the American embassy in Muscat, Oman, The Guardian reported Tuesday.

Houthi negotiators told US officials that a 2025 ceasefire between Washington and the movement remained in force and that the Houthis had no intention of attacking US shipping in the Red Sea, The Guardian reported. Only Saudi-linked shipping would be considered a target, owing to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen, the Houthis confirmed in the meeting.

The Guardian reported that the US decision helps explain statements from President Donald Trump, who condemned the Houthi advance down Yemen’s west coast for threatening freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandab strait but so far has declined to authorize a military response. The United States is already embroiled in a conflict with Iran, which backs the Houthis.

US Vice President JD Vance confirmed Monday that the United States was in direct contact with the Houthis, The Guardian reported. The US designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist entity in March 2025 but has met in recent months with leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.

Nabeel Khoury, a former deputy US ambassador to Yemen, told The Guardian that a “kind of tacit understanding between the Trump administration and the Houthis” had been struck. “The Houthis are promising the American administration that American and international navigation will not be affected in the Red Sea, but the only danger is to Saudi ships or those carrying Saudi oil,” Khoury said.

The Houthi movement last week seized large sections of western Yemen along the Red Sea coast in a rapid offensive. The Guardian reported that the US refusal to become directly involved has placed pressure on Saudi Arabia to pursue either a diplomatic resolution with the Houthis over Yemen’s future governance or to assemble a regional alliance with Pakistan and Turkey to push the group back.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday claimed that the Houthis had fired a drone at the holy city of Mecca. Coalition spokesperson Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said the drone was intercepted at approximately 6:50 pm local time on Tuesday as it entered prohibited airspace near Mecca’s most holy shrines, and that the missile had been destroyed by Saudi defence forces. Saudi Arabia said any attack on Mecca is a red line.

The claim drew condemnation in lengthy statements from the UN-recognized Yemeni government based in Aden and from the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the alleged attack “dastardly and heinous.” “The people of Pakistan are saddened and perturbed by this outrageous act,” Sharif said in a statement posted on X.

The Houthis, followers of a Shia Zaydism that respects the pilgrimage to Mecca, dismissed the claim. A Houthi leadership statement described the allegation as the “lie of the century” and added that such worn-out lies had been used before and had fooled no one. Houthi deputy foreign minister Abdul Wahid Abu Ras said the alleged attack was not from the Houthis. “Whoever opened the land of the two holy mosques to debauchery and entertainment parties, and whoever defiled the land of the two holy mosques by the presence of Zionist Jews in it, is the one who targets Mecca, Medina and the Islamic holy sites,” Abu Ras said.

The Houthis separately claimed that they had shot down a Saudi F-15 plane near Marib and attacked an Aramco plant in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu. The Houthi military spokesperson provided no supporting evidence for either claim. Mohammed Abdul Salam, head of the Houthi negotiating team, said the reported downing of the plane was a warning to the West not to fall victim to Saudi propaganda.

Mohammed al-Farah, a Houthi political bureau member, told The Guardian that Saudi Arabia was experiencing a “real predicament in Yemen” after a war, siege, and occupation in which it had failed to achieve its goals. “Today, it is looking for external solutions, so it is begging the international community, warning the world about Bab al-Mandab and requesting support from Pakistan, Turkey, America, Israel and Egypt. Then it is trying to mobilise Muslims with a false pretext called ‘targeting Mecca,’” al-Farah said.

Separately, The Guardian reported that Israeli officials had leaked details of a secret meeting last week in Germany between military commanders from the United States, Israel, and several Arab states to discuss the war launched by Israel and the United States against Iran. Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported that the “private retreat” was organized by Adm Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command. Citing two unnamed Israeli officials, Ravid said the meeting was attended by the military chiefs of staff of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt — the first such gathering since the US and Israel went to war with Iran more than six months ago. Israel, once a target for Houthi attacks, was offering to intervene in Yemen on Saudi Arabia’s behalf, The Guardian reported.

At the United Nations on Tuesday, a Security Council meeting condemned any attempt to close the Red Sea. The Guardian noted that the meeting was notable for the Russian envoy beginning to edge away from its previous stance that the UN-recognized government in Aden was the only legitimate government inside Yemen.

In Beijing, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Wednesday in an effort to secure Chinese support for Iran’s plans for the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed because of separate Iranian and US blockades, The Guardian reported. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said China did not want to see further regional tension spill over into Yemen and the Red Sea, and called on the US to return to talks based on a memorandum of understanding agreed in June. Beijing, the main importer of Iranian oil, is eager for a settlement and has resisted any suggestion that US secondary sanctions on countries trading with Iran should apply to China.

The Guardian reported that oil prices remained well over $100 a barrel and that a key Saudi East-West pipeline remained closed because of a bombing incident.