Yemen Monitor/Sana’a/Exclusive:
A military delegation from the European Union met with a spokesperson for the armed Houthi group last week to discuss attacks against ships in the Red Sea, according to sources in Sanaa who spoke to “Yemen Monitor.”
The sources, who requested anonymity, said that a delegation from the EU Navy met with Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the spokesperson for the Houthis, in the Omani capital, Muscat.
During the meeting, the EU delegation assured the Houthis that their goal is to protect international navigation, not to attack Yemeni territories in the “Aspides” operation, the sources reported.
The sources added that the Houthi group relayed a warning from their leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, to the European Union to withdraw forces from the Red Sea.
This coincided with the meeting of the UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg with Abdul-Salam, where he presented a modified proposal for the Yemeni road map.
Muscat has usually been a location for backchannel negotiations with the Houthis for the past decade.
The sources did not provide details about the European request to the Houthis. The commander of the “Aspides” operation had called for more warships in the Red Sea.
On Thursday, the head of the European Naval Military Committee stated that the threat from the Houthis would continue even after the end of the war in Gaza.
In February, the European Union launched a military operation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden called “Aspides” to combat increasing security threats in the Red Sea, enhance freedom of navigation, and support regional stability. This was in response to the Houthi’s repeated attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, causing disruptions in trade and raising commodity prices.
Since November, the Houthis have targeted more than 60 commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and recently expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They claimed to be targeting ships associated with Israel, which is carrying out a brutal attack on Gaza. However, the Yemeni government and experts say that the Houthis’ goals are local to escape internal crises and improve their image in the region.
In response, the United States and Britain have been conducting airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthies since January 11,as a result the Houthies vowed to expand their operations to include American and British ships.
