US Talks With Yemen's Ansar Allah Amid Saudi Oil Crisis
The US and Yemen's Ansar Allah group have opened talks as Saudi Arabia's oil crisis deepens. The discussions, which took place in Oman over the weekend, were between US officials and Ansar Allah representatives.
Ansar Allah assured their US counterparts that they would continue adhering to an Oman-brokered 2025 ceasefire with the US, and only intended to target Saudi forces and Saudi-shipping that attempted to enter the Red Sea. The meeting influenced the Trump administration's decision not to militarily intervene on Saudi Arabia's behalf in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has long backed other forces in Yemen that seek to defeat Ansar Allah, but 80% of Yemen's population lives in territory controlled by the group. The US had initially rebuffed Saudi pleas for military involvement after a four-year truce between Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah ended on July 13.
Ansar Allah retaliated against Saudi Arabia by declaring a blockade on Saudi traffic entering the Red Sea, achieving an enormous strategic victory by capturing the remainder of Yemen's western coastline. The capture positioned their forces on the critical Bab al-Mandeb Strait, further destabilizing the region.