Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Houthi self-contradiction delays signing of peace pact

Houthi self-contradiction delays signing of peace pact

The Iran-backed Houthis have made additional demands in order to accept Saudi peace mediation, including an agreement between the militia and Saudi Arabia, dashing expectations of striking a peace deal to end the war in Yemen before the conclusion of Ramadan.
A Yemeni government official told Arab News that Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber delayed his return to Riyadh after the Houthis rejected Saudi Arabia as a mediator and demanded that the Kingdom execute a peace agreement with them instead of the group signing the agreement with the Yemeni government.

The Saudi ambassador rejected this demand. “Negotiations (in Sanaa) are difficult and complex and require more time,” a Yemeni government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.

Over the weekend, Saudi delegations led by Al-Jaber and others from Oman arrived in Sanaa to discuss with the Houthis a semi-final text of a peace agreement, endorsed by Yemen’s internationally recognized government, to end the war.

The agreement includes a six-month extension of the UN-brokered truce, inter-Yemeni talks for six months, a two-year transitional period, the payment of public employees in Houthi-controlled areas, the lifting of restrictions on Sanaa airport and Hodeidah ports, and the lifting of the Houthi siege of Taiz.

Houthi sources told Agence France-Presse on Wednesday that the militia was hesitant to accept Saudi mediation because certain Houthi religious and political figures perceive Riyadh as a participant in the conflict rather than a mediator and that a peace deal before the end of Ramadan was unlikely.

“The talks between the Saudi delegation and the Houthis did not reach a final result yet to complete an agreement that was expected to be signed at the end of Ramadan,” the AFP quoted a Houthi source as saying.

“The Saudis presented their vision of a solution and wanted to be mediators in resolving the crisis alongside the Omanis, but the Houthi political and religious leaders insisted that Riyadh be a party to the agreement and not an intermediary.”

The Yemeni government has long warned that the Houthi group’s “radical” faction would thwart any efforts to establish peace in Yemen.

A prominent Houthi leader provided a contradictory statement to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper on Thursday, saying that the atmosphere of their discussions with the Saudi and Omani delegates was “positive” and that a peace agreement might be signed “soon, as many points of contention have been resolved and the movement does not demand a Saudi Arabian agreement.”

The Houthis’ contradictory statements regarding talks in Sanaa surfaced as the prisoner exchange between Yemeni parties was postponed until Friday.

Without elaborating on the reason for the delay, Yahya Kazman, head of the Yemeni government’s delegation in prisoner exchange discussions, said the three-day operation would begin on Friday, with over 880 inmates being transported between Yemeni and Saudi airports.

Yemeni sides agreed last month to trade around 880 captives during the holy month of Ramadan. During the second major prisoner exchange since the start of the war, the Houthis would surrender 181 captives, including troops from the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, for 706 of their prisoners held by the Yemeni government.

Meanwhile, Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, who arrived in the area on Tuesday, said Yemen was enjoying a unique opportunity to reach an agreement to bring an end to the war.

“After over a year of intensive US and UN diplomatic efforts and support from regional partners like Saudi Arabia and Oman, Yemen is witnessing an unprecedented opportunity for peace,” Lenderking said, according to a US State Department statement.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×