Iranian-Houthi talks in Muscat amid new militia naval attacks

On Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, met with the Houthi’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdulsalam, in Oman's capital city, Muscat, as the insurgent Yemeni militia announced it had conducted five new naval attacks within 72 hours.

The semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that in the Iranian embassy in Muscat, Abdollahian met with Mohammed Abdulsalam, who it described as "the chief negotiator of the Yemeni National Salvation Government".

The report indicated that the meeting, which took place on the first day of Abdollahian's regional tour, discussed the situation in Palestine and the recent attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which Israel is accused of carrying out.

According to Tasnim, during the meeting, Abdollahian assessed the Iranian-Saudi relations as “progressing and developing” and declared Tehran’s support for the peace talks process in Yemen.

Tasnim said that Abdulsalam "praised the special and distinguished support provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Palestinian people and the axis of resistance."

In a post on X, Mohammed Abdulsalam said: “I conveyed to the Iranian Foreign Minister my condolences for the victims of the consulate as a result of the treacherous Israeli aggression, our support for Iran’s right to respond, and the importance of continuing to support Gaza at all levels.”

التقينا عصر اليوم في مسقط وزير الخارجية الإيرانية ونقلنا له تعازي اليمن في شهداء القنصلية جراء العدوان الإسرائيلي الغادر، وتأييدنا لحق إيران في الرد وردع العدو عن التمادي، وأهمية مواصلة مساندة غزة على كل المستويات، وتم بحث آخر المستجدات على المستوى الإقليمي والدولي. pic.twitter.com/Pw4Rn8fB1R

— محمد عبدالسلام (@abdusalamsalah) April 7, 2024

"The latest developments at the regional and international levels were also discussed," he added.

In a parallel development, the military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Sarea,  announced on X on Sunday that they had carried out five military operations within 72 hours, targeting three commercial ships in addition to US military frigates.

Sarea said that Houthi forces had targeted “the British ship, Hope Island, in the Red Sea with a number of suitable naval missiles, and the hit was direct".

He added that they had “also carried out an operation against two Israeli ships that were heading to the ports of occupied Palestine, the first, MSC Grace F, in the Indian Ocean, and the other, MSC Gina, in the Arabian Sea".

The statement indicated that "the targeting operation was carried out with a number of ballistic and winged missiles” and succeeded in its objective. 

The Houthis also carried out two military operations using drones targeting “a number of” American warships in the Red Sea, as per Sarea’s post. 

On the ground, the Southern Giants Brigades responded to a Houthi attack in the Al-Jafra area of the Al-Abdiyah district in Marib Governorate, according to a statement on their media center website on Sunday.

The statement reported, "The Houthis suffered heavy losses during the failed attack."