Donald Trump said the US would stop attacking the Houthis in Yemen because the group had “capitulated”, as Oman confirmed a “ceasefire” had been reached with the Iran-backed group for it to stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea.
“[The Houthis] just don’t want to fight, and we will honour that and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated,” he said, speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the White House.
Shortly afterwards the Omani foreign minister posted that the deal meant neither side would target the other, “ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping”.
The Houthis have yet to comment.
The US stepped up air strikes on the Houthis in March and the US military says it has struck 1,000 targets in Yemen since then.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the Houthis would “not be blowing up ships anymore”.
“The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they announced to us at least, that they don’t want to fight anymore… but, more importantly, we will take their word.
“They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore and that’s what the purpose of what we were doing… so that’s just news we just found out about that.”
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said his country had mediated efforts to achieve de-escalation.
“In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping” he said.
The Houthis began attacking shipping passing through the Red Sea in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, who have been under bombardment by the Israeli military since the Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israeli communities in October 2023.
They have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships, sinking two vessels, seizing a third and killing four crew members. The attacks forced even major shipping companies to stop using the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes – and to take a much longer route around southern Africa instead.
US-led naval forces thwarted many Houthi attacks on shipping and former US president Joe Biden began US air strikes against the Houthis, which have intensified under Trump.
Last month, the Houthis said at least 68 African migrants were killed in a US air strike on a detention centre in north-western Yemen.
The Houthis have continued firing missiles towards Israel, with one missile landing near Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on Sunday.
On Tuesday Israel responded with a large-scale attack on Yemen’s main international airport in the capital Sanaa, which left it “completely destroyed” according to an airport official quoted by AFP.
Other Israeli strikes hit power facilities and a cement factory. On Monday Israel bombed port facilities in Hudaydah and another cement factory in the city.
