Bloomberg newspaper quoted a US State Department official as saying that the UN road map for a peace agreement in Yemen cannot continue unless the Houthis stop their attacks in the Red Sea.

The American official - who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter - explained that the administration of President Joe Biden supports peace in Yemen to address the long-standing economic and humanitarian crises in the country.

But he stressed that the agreements linked to the so-called road map drawn up by the United Nations could not continue unless the Houthis stopped the Red Sea attacks, which began last November to pressure Israel to end its war in Gaza.

He added that Washington had informed the concerned parties in Yemen, including Saudi Arabia, that the main elements of the UN-led plan that was committed to in December could not move forward unless the group ended its naval campaign on ships that had been ongoing for about 7 years. Months.

This step - according to Bloomberg - demonstrates how the US and British air strikes against the Houthis since early January have done little to deter the group, whose missile attacks have disrupted shipping traffic through one of the main arteries of global trade.

• Retreat of the truce

And "in solidarity with Gaza" in the face of the ongoing Israeli war since October 7, 2023, the Houthi group has, since November, begun targeting Israeli or related cargo ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones.

Bloomberg newspaper says that suspending the peace agreement in Yemen could lead to a reversal of the fragile two-year truce and reignite ground fighting between the Houthis and the legitimate government.

Last December, a source in the Yemeni government told Al Jazeera Net that negotiations had taken place between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, and that the initial draft had been referred to the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to give it an international character.

Grundberg said, "The Yemeni government and the Houthis have committed to taking steps towards a nationwide ceasefire and engaging in preparations to resume a comprehensive political process under the auspices of the United Nations."

These steps include paying the salaries of public sector employees, resuming oil exports, opening roads in Taiz and other parts of Yemen, and continuing to ease restrictions imposed on Sanaa Airport and Hodeidah Port.