President Trump revealed on Tuesday that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen had conveyed their willingness to end hostilities against American vessels in the Red Sea, prompting the United States to halt its military strikes in return.
“The Houthis have announced that … they don’t want to fight anymore,” Trump said during a meeting in the Oval Office with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“They just don’t want to fight. And we will honor that, and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word [when] they say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s what the purpose of what we were doing.”
As of now, the Houthi side has not officially confirmed the announcement made by President Trump. Still, Trump referred to the update as “very positive,” noting, “we just found out about that.”
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led assault on Israel, the Houthis have carried out a string of attacks targeting vessels sailing through the Red Sea.
In response, the Trump administration launched airstrikes aimed at discouraging the continued assaults.
Last month, a Houthi representative indicated to DropSite News that they would be willing to stop targeting American vessels—if the Trump administration agreed to cease its bombing campaign.
“We do not consider ourselves at war with the American people,” Houthi spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti previously told DropSite News last month. “If the US stops targeting Yemen, we will cease our military operations against it.”
{Matzav.com}