The US and Houtis in Yemen have signed a contract to halt US airstrikes on the group after Iran-backed extremists agreed to halt attacks on American ships in the Red Sea, President Trump and Omani mediators said Tuesday.
Trump defeated the news of the ceasefire in an unrelated oval office meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister.
“They just don't want to fight,” Trump said. “And we respect that and stop the bombing. They surrendered, but more importantly, we accept their words. They say they won't blow up the ship anymore.”
However, despite his claims of success, it remains unclear whether the US achieved its purpose of stopping Houthis from thwarting international shipping after a seven-week, costly bombing campaign.
Houthis itself stopped declaring a complete ceasefire, saying it would continue to fight Israel. And Houthi officials and supporters quickly portrayed the deal as a major victory for the militia and a failure for Trump, spreading the social media hashtag that read, “Yemen will defeat America.”
For more than a year, Houthis has fired projectiles and drones on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, which militia groups described as a show of solidarity between Gaza residents and the militia groups that control Palestinian territory.
In mid-March, the US began attacking hundreds of targets in an attempt to reopen international transport lanes. The campaign costs well over $1 billion, Congressional officials said they learned last month during a closed door briefing with Pentagon officials. The percentage of ammunition used in the campaign has sparked concern among some US military strategists who are worried that it could undermine preparations for a potential conflict with China.
After Trump unexpectedly defeated news of a deal between the Housis and the US, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusady said his country mediated the agreement.
“In the future, neither side will target other sides, including American ships in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Straits, ensuring freedom of navigation and smooth flow of international commercial transport,” he said in a statement on social media.
On his part, senior Houthi politician Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti said that if the US halts its attack on Yemen, Houthis would halt its attack on smaller groups.
But Al Buhaiti said the Houtis would continue its military operations until Israel besieges Gaza. “No matter what the sacrifice, we must fight until Judgment Day, even if we do.
His statement was unclear whether Houthis would stop attacking other vessels in key transport lanes. Houthis says it targets only ships with links to Israel or the US, but the militia have no obvious links in the past, and have vessels that have targeted in the past. In an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, Al Buhaiti did not answer specific questions about whether the group would continue to attack Israel-related ships.
Another senior citizen, Mahadi al-Mashat, revealed a group intended to retaliate against Israel for bombing Yemen's major international airports on Tuesday. Al Mashat said the response from the Houtis “crushing the earth, painfully and exceeding the capabilities that Israel and American enemies can withstand.”
Mohammed Ali Al Hoty, a senior member of the group, also described Trump's announcement as a “winning” for the Houtis, implying in a social media post that the agreement means that the US no longer supports Israel's fight against the Houtis.
The US Central Command, responsible for the operation against Houthis, presented questions regarding the White House agreement. The White House refused to elaborate on Trump's remarks or responded to inquiries about what the administration would do if it continued attacks on Israeli ships.
Trump, who tends to make ridiculous comments that could overturn foreign policy, appeared to be unsure of his own defense division. Three Pentagon officials said Tuesday afternoon that the military had not yet received words from the White House to end the offensive operation against Hausis. Officials were rushing to understand how Trump's announcement changed military policy.
The new US ceasefire with Iran-backed extremists is because American officials are working to negotiate contracts to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions, and the agreement with the Housis could play a role in those broader debates.
Two Iranian officials said Tuesday that Iran used its influence on the Houssis as part of Omani's efforts to mediate a ceasefire and stop the firing of US ships on them. The official, one of the Foreign Ministry and a revolutionary security officer, spoke about the terms of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.
Houthis receives weapons and funds from Iran and is part of a network of what is known regionally as Iran's axis of resistance. A recent social media post by Defense Secretary Pete Hegzes threatened action against Iran over the attack on Hooty on American ships.
In the past few weeks, Iranian officials have kept their public distance from the Houtis, saying Iran has no control over the group and that their actions are in response to the war in Gaza. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in mid-March that “Housis will act independently on its own interests and personal views,” denying Iran that he had a proxy militia in the region.
Famous reform analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi wrote on social media that the ceasefire news between the US and the Houtis was “his best news” and the worst news for Iranian hardliners supporting the regional proxy militia.
Still, national security experts questioned the agreement would lead to a long-term halt of attacks in the Red Sea. Trump's announcement comes hours after the Houtis issued a statement saying he would fight “the holy war with the aid of the false Palestinians of Gaza” and stand up to the enemy of “Israel-Americans.”
Houthis described the attack as an attempt to pressure Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, where more than 2 million Palestinians struggle to get food and water.
Since Hamas took hostages in a deadly attack in southern Israel in October 2023, the Palestinians in Gaza have been under siege by Israel. The Israeli and Hooty forces have also attacked each other.
Gregory Johnsen, a former member of the UN Security Council Expert Panel on Yemen, said: “What will the US do if that happens? Will they restart the strike or let Israel deal with the Houssis?”
He also expressed skepticism that the commercial transport industry would return to the Red Sea given that Houthis has not been defeated or deteriorated to the point that it cannot carry out these attacks.
“They just promised not to do that, and we still can't see if the shipping industry wants to see it,” he said.
Helen Cooper Contributed with reports from the Pentagon, Eric Schmidt From Washington, Fanaz Fassich From New York Shuaib Almosawa From Sana, Yemen.
