Oman Says It Brokered U.S.-Houthi Red Sea Ceasefire
Oman’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that the country had brokered a ceasefire between the United States and Houthi militants in Yemen, after United States President Donald Trump claimed that the Iran-backed militants would cease their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
“They said please don’t bomb us anymore and we’re not going to attack your ships,” Trump said during a Tuesday press conference in the Oval Office with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “And I will accept their word. And we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis effective immediately.”
Following Trump’s comments, Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi disclosed that Oman had brokered the ceasefire, saying:
“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. The Sultanate of Oman expresses its gratitude to both parties for their constructive approach that led to this welcome outcome, and hopes that it will lead to further progress on many regional issues towards achieving justice, peace, and prosperity for all.”
Trump’s abrupt announcement came the same day as a second round of Israeli air strikes on Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, with the Israeli Air Force saying it struck Sanaa’s international airport, power plants in and around the city that was Yemen’s capital before the 2014 coup, as well as a cement factory Tel Aviv accuses of being used to construct underground tunnels.
Israeli air strikes on Monday had struck the port of Hodeidah and a cement factory outside the city also said to be used to support construction of underground tunnels, in retaliation for a Sunday ballistic missile attack on Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport that injured six civilians after the missile hit a grove within the airport’s perimeter.
There have been no reported attacks on shipping in the Red Sea since December 2024, but Houthi long range attacks on Israel have resumed since Israel restarted its campaign in Gaza, with sporadic attacks continuing despite the start of a U.S. Navy-led air campaign against the Houthis in March. During the campaign USS Harry S. Truman’s air wing has lost two F/A-18s to accidents.
The air campaign has sparked multiple controversies, particularly around senior Trump officials’ use of the Signal end-to-end encrypted messaging app to plan and coordinate it, after former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic to one such group chat.