Digital Press Briefing with Timothy Lenderking, Special Envoy for Yemen

MODERATOR:  Greetings to everyone from the U.S. Department of State’s Dubai Regional Media Hub.  I would like to welcome our participants joining us from the Middle East and around the world for this on-the-record briefing with U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking.  During this call, Special Envoy Lenderking will discuss issues related to maritime security and efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Red Sea.   

After opening remarks, Special Envoy Lenderking will take questions from participating journalists.  We are pleased to offer simultaneous interpretation for this briefing in Arabic.  We request that everyone keep this in mind and speak slowly. 

I’ll now turn it over to Special Envoy Lenderking for some opening remarks.  Sir, the floor is yours. 

MR LENDERKING:  Good afternoon.  Thank you, Hala, and thank you all for joining us today.  Ramadan kareem for those of you celebrating.  I’m pleased to be joining you all from Muscat, where I’ve had excellent meetings today, including with Oman’s foreign minister, His Excellency Sayyid Badr.  During my meetings here, I expressed my appreciation for the important role Oman has played in advancing peace in Yemen and for the importance of this bilateral relationship to the United States. 

Yesterday I traveled to Saudi Arabia for additional engagements with partners helping lead the effort to promote regional stability.  In all of these discussions, the bottom line is this:  The Houthis must immediately halt their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden because they are undermining progress on the Yemen peace process and complicating the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemenis and others in need, including the Palestinian people.  We discussed steps to secure Houthi de-escalation and renew focus on securing a durable peace for the Yemeni people.  I also had a chance to congratulate the new Yemen foreign minister before he traveled to Aden.   

Houthi attacks must stop so we can return our focus to the Yemen peace effort and direct our full attention towards supporting the Palestinians and their legitimate aspirations for a two-state solution, which Houthi behavior, frankly, is complicating and undermining.  Houthi actions endanger the lives of civilian seafarers, disrupt the flow of food and other essential commodities to people worldwide, undermine navigational rights and freedoms, and irreparably harm the marine environment and sensitive ecosystems that Yemeni fishermen depend on. 

The Houthi attacks are raising prices for consumers and jeopardizing the regional development goals of countries in the region that depend on shipping and international trade, including Oman.  These attacks are also not helping Yemen, which remains in dire need of humanitarian and economic support.   

The Houthis claim that their actions are a response to the conflict in Gaza, but their attacks only hurt ordinary people in the region.  You can care about and support the Palestinians and still oppose the Houthi attacks.  

These negative impacts are due exclusively to Houthi recklessness and Iran’s efforts to sow instability across the region.  These attacks serve nothing more than a narrow Houthi agenda.  Iran continues to enable these attacks through arms funding and intelligence support to the Houthis, reminding the world that they are the leading sponsor of terrorism.   

Let’s be clear.  The Houthis’ attacks against civilians and commercial ships are acts of terrorism.  This is further exemplified by their seizure last November and continued unlawful detention of the MV Galaxy Leader and its 25-member crew.  The United States has been very clear that we seek de-escalation in the Red Sea and that the Houthis’ attacks cannot continue.  When their attacks stop, so too will coalition actions in the Red Sea and Yemen. 

Our commitment to the peace process in Yemen remains unshakable.  The Houthis could have avoided global condemnation, including recently by the UN Security Council, by ceasing their illegal attacks.  They can still de-escalate and return to the path of peace.  But they have left the international community with no choice.  While there remains broad international support for an inclusive Yemeni-Yemeni peace process to find a lasting solution to the country’s conflict, successful negotiations are extremely difficult as long as the Houthis continue their aggressive actions.  

Absent a political settlement, we fear Yemen’s humanitarian and economic crises will only get worse.  But we cannot let the Yemeni people continue to suffer.  The United States is the world’s leading donor of humanitarian assistance for Yemen.  The United States has provided almost $6 billion in assistance since the conflict began.   

Let me stop there.  I’m happy to take your questions.  Thank you.  

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Special Envoy.  And we’ll start the Q&A with a pre-submitted question, and we had two Omani journalists that asked similar questions, so I will take questions from both of them.  It was from Mohammad Afar from the Muscat Daily and Shaded Al Musalmy from Oman Observer, and their questions are:  “What are the main challenges that are facing peacemaking and hindering negotiations given all the efforts by Oman and the United States, and considering Oman’s history of negotiating with the Houthis on various issues?”  

MR LENDERKING:  Thank you so much, Mohammad and Shaded.  I really appreciate that question.  This is exactly what has brought me to Muscat today and to Saudi Arabia yesterday.  These two countries in particular have such an important role to play.  They both border on Yemen, as you know, and have very, very strong interests in a solution in Yemen.  I couldn’t think of two better partners, quite honestly, to work with, and that’s why I am here so often – more than 50 trips to this region since I was appointed envoy three years ago. 

And I think what we have to do is seize the moment that was presented to us before October 7th.  There is a roadmap for peace that the parties have agreed to.  It may be imperfect.  It may have challenges.  But the fact that the key conflict parties have agreed to it – it’s been endorsed by the Omanis and by the UN of course – gives us an opportunity to take advantage of these principles to push the peace process forward.  And that’s why I’m so committed to seeing that this happens, that not every crisis in the region is going to be able to be resolved before Yemen’s peace effort can go forward.  And that’s why we need to seize this moment now, building on the progress that has been made, the ongoing truce, the possibility of releasing more prisoners, the possibility of getting Yemen’s economy back on track.  These are such important aspects that I think we need to push toward.  It’s going to be a team effort.  

MODERATOR:  Thank you, Special Envoy.  Now we will go to the live queue to Elizabeth Hagedorn from Al-Monitor.  Elizabeth, please go ahead and ask your question.  You can unmute yourself.  Go ahead.  

QUESTION:  Hi, thanks.  Tim, do you see any evidence that the SDGT designation or the U.S.-led military strikes have deterred the Houthis or changed their behavior?  And then if I could just add, have you – how would you characterize the Saudi-Houthi peace process at this stage?  Are the talks indefinitely postponed?  

MR LENDERKING:  Thanks so much, Elizabeth.  I know how closely you have been following these issues and thank you for your interest.  I do think, from our point of view, that the designation of the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization in February has put additional pressure on their ability to fundraise, and it is – it was our intent to put this additional pressure on the Houthis as a way of signaling our desire to move their behavior away from the focus on the Red Sea back toward the peace process.  And I do think, from what I’m seeing, that there is this pressure that is being felt.   

But my hope as the envoy for Yemen is that we can find diplomatic offramps to find ways to de-escalate and allow us to pull back eventually the designation and of course to end the military strikes on Houthis’ military capability.  We favor a diplomatic solution.  We know that there is no military solution, and in that commitment we are joined by all members of the P5 – Russia, China, France, the UK – united in this goal, and I think that’s very helpful for listeners to know that there’s a strong consensus in the international community and among key players to support the peace effort going forward. 

MODERATOR:  And back to a pre-submitted question from Saudi’s Almughtarib TV, from Yaser Almuaalemi, and the question is:  “Is your visit to Saudi Arabia intended to signal a de-escalation of U.S. involvement in Yemen?”  

MR LENDERKING:  Hello, Yaser.  Thank you very much.  In no way are we de-escalating our involvement.  What we want to see is a de-escalation of the tensions that we’re seeing not only in Yemen and the Red Sea, but throughout the region.  And of course, my focus is particularly on the ways that we could move beyond the current crisis in the Red Sea and get back to the Yemen peace effort.  As I say, there’s a fundamental foundation, a very, very important foundation in the roadmap that was agreed to in December after a year or more of painstaking work.   

And I think tying back to Elizabeth’s question earlier, the fact that Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have been able to make progress, Saudi Arabia mediating between the Houthis and the Yemen Government, multiple visits to Sana’a and to Riyadh by both sides, building confidence and driving agreement on a roadmap, gives us some hope that we can use this moment to get beyond current tensions and refocus on what the Yemeni people need, which is an end to this nine-year civil war.   

MODERATOR:  We’ll go back to the live queue, to Jeff Seldin from Voice of America.  Jeff, feel free to unmute yourself and ask your question.  

QUESTION:  Thank you very much for doing this.  I’m wondering, in your talks the last couple of days, how much concern there’s been, how much talk there’s been about the Israeli airstrike on the embassy complex in Damascus, Iran’s embassy complex, and whether – and what that means for the region in terms of perhaps dragging it into a wider or escalated war, and specifically what it might mean for the Houthis given their relationship with Iran and whether they may escalate their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.   

MR LENDERKING:  Well, thank you for that.  That was a significant development, and of course it has – that issue has come up in my stops on this trip.  This attack took place while I was on the road.  I was not briefed on it.  I believe that the White House has made very clear that the United States was not briefed on it.  This was not our strike.  And I think you can continue to look toward Washington for further commentary on that. 

What I’ve sought to do is keep the Yemen focus first and foremost – that whatever is happening in the region, we need to keep a laser focus on the needs of the Yemeni people.  They’ve suffered through nine years of war, of deprivation, of destroyed infrastructure, of displacement, and I think harnessing the regional efforts in a positive direction toward peace is exactly where this administration wants to go.  We have to be able – to be able to push efforts on peace in Yemen just as we’re working on multiple other crises in the region.  

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  Now to Farida Ahmed from the pre-submitted questions, and she is from South24 Center for News in Yemen, and her question is:  “The American response to the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has yet to achieve its objectives.  What are the next steps for the United States in light of the Houthi escalation, and will this escalation affect the expected negotiations process and your efforts as a special envoy to Yemen alongside Hans Grundberg?”  

MR LENDERKING:  Well, thank you so much again for reaffirming the importance of the peace effort.  I do think that the efforts, the pressure that the United States and a coalition of other countries – Operation Prosperity Guardian, the coalition that is conducting military strikes on Houthi military capability to destroy that capability that the Houthis use to attack ships – it has no broader purpose than that very specific goal – plus the designation of the Houthis does put additional pressure on that – on the Houthis and may help discourage them from continuing down this path. 

But nevertheless, I do think that ultimately diplomatic solutions will have to be found, and again, that’s why the importance of consulting with regional partners who have such a strong stake in a peaceful outcome to this conflict – Oman, Saudi Arabia, and others.  I will travel elsewhere in the region later this month.  That’s why this is so important, I think, and why I refer to this being a team effort, because I think the other countries in the region have such a strong stake in a peaceful outcome.  We all want Yemen to be a source of stability for the region.   

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  And we’ll take one more question from the pre-submitted questions, from the Oman News Agency from Khalid Al Busaidi, and the question is:  “Since the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea is linked with the genocide in Gaza, why is the U.S. administration continuing to supply Israel with weapons instead of forcing Israel to end the brutal war on Gaza after the shocking numbers of casualties and famine?” 

MR LENDERKING:  Khalid, thank you so much for that question.  I know that’s very much on people’s minds, and I would refer you to Secretary Blinken’s long statement on the issue of weapons sales to Israel.  I think it’s quite comprehensive, but one of the points that he makes is that we do have a longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and to helping ensure its ability to defend itself.  That, of course, does not mean rampant attacks on civilians, which the United States has called out and is seeking to end through very, very forceful engagement with the parties in that conflict.   

Again, I think let us do our utmost together to ensure that regional conflicts do not impinge, threaten, or undermine the effort that we’re trying to do to build on these foundations that we have laid over the last couple of years in Yemen.  And let me just remind everybody, despite the attacks on the Red Sea, there is a truce in fact being observed in Yemen.  The fighting that we had seen that was so raging up to two years ago ended with the truce, and I think it’s very important for people to appreciate that internally in Yemen, fighting has not returned.  That de-escalation has allowed more humanitarian supplies to reach Yemen, for Yemenis to travel abroad on their own airlines for the first time from Sana’a since 2016, for prisoners to be released, and for some efforts to begin to be made toward rebuilding Yemen’s economy.   

We need to pull all of these lines of effort together in a united fashion, joined with efforts from the region, focused and determined, to get us to ending this war in a durable way and promoting Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue which ensures that Yemen’s – that the Yemeni people can take charge of their own future. 

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  And now we’re back to the live queue to Tawfiq Ali from Independent Arabia.  Tawfiq, please feel free to unmute yourself and ask your question.  You’re still on mute, Tawfiq.  Go ahead and unmute, and feel free to ask your question.  Okay, I don’t think we’re able to hear Tawfiq.  Tawfiq, feel free to write your question and we’ll try to ask it on your behalf. 

QUESTION:  Oh, hello.  Hello, hello.  I will speak Arabic, okay?   

MODERATOR:  Actually, we can only take questions in English, but feel free to write – (in Arabic).  But the questions will be asked only in English. 

QUESTION:  (In Arabic.) 

MODERATOR:  I’m sorry?  Okay, thank you.  All right, I will go back to the pre-submitted questions and ask a question — 

QUESTION:  I will be back shortly, okay?   

MODERATOR:  Okay, thank you – thank you, Tawfiq. 

All right, so back to the pre-submitted questions.  Huthaifa Al Amiri from ymn-now.com:  “Is there any breakthrough in the Yemen peace process given that the Houthis continue their terrorist activities in the Red Sea?” 

MR LENDERKING:  I think most importantly we’re looking for and working toward the durable ceasefire in the Yemeni-Yemeni talks that we so much want to achieve, and I think that the UN Security Council and the countries in the region want to achieve.  It’s very difficult to take advantage of the momentum that we have made in Yemen over the last few years given these attacks on the Red Sea.  Unfortunately, these attacks against international shipping have undermined the credibility of the Houthis as a good-faith actor in Yemen.   

Let us see whether they can find a way to release the crew of the Galaxy Leader – 25 sailors who were detained in November of last year who are still being held.  There is no justification for it.  They have no connection to Israel; their ship had no connection to Israel.  This is a step that the Houthis could take to show good faith to the international community that they do have an intent to de-escalate, they do have a commitment to do – to de-escalate.  Steps like these could generate a lot of goodwill, will be noticed and welcomed by the parties, and can be used to contribute to the peace process going forward. 

MODERATOR:  All right.  And now Monalisa Freiha from Annahar asks:  “Does Washington have an assessment of the impact of the U.S. campaign against Yemen’s Houthis?  Are there any other options on the table to deter attacks by the group?” 

MR LENDERKING:  So as I’ve said, I think that the pressure campaign is something that is having its intended effect in the sense that those targets that the military is striking, whether they be underground facilities or coastal radars, they are being destroyed.  They are hampering the ability of the Houthis to continue to launch attacks on Red Sea shipping.  And by the way, these attacks are hurting ships of many, many different countries – I think more than 70 attacks over the last several months.  They’ve sunk a ship; they’ve killed three mariners.  I mean, this is not acceptable behavior for any party to exert on international waterways and threatening freedom of navigation.   

So I do think that we need to – we collectively need to continue this pressure, but at the same time continue to talk to our allies and partners in the region about ways to de-escalate, and looking to defuse this tense situation as soon as we can. 

MODERATOR:  Now Abdulhadi Habtor from Asharq Al Awsat newspaper asks:  “How do you respond to the recent Houthi actions regarding the issuance of a new currency denomination of a hundred rials?  And is there any change in the U.S. position regarding the peace process?” which I believe you’ve answered.  Over to you, sir. 

MR LENDERKING:  Thank you for that question, referring to the introduction of a new coin in some parts of Yemen.  What this shows us is that there is economic pressure that the Houthis are facing.  I’ve talked about the economic pressure that the Houthis are placing on international shipping, which is harming regional economies, but it’s also harming Yemen.  And in that sense I would point to a 15 percent reduction in ships being able to dock at Hudaydah Port, which is a lifeblood for the Yemeni people.  These actions on Red Sea shipping have obstructed humanitarian supplies from reaching the Yemeni people.  And that’s why we say that these attacks are misplaced and why they’re reckless and indiscriminate.   

And so I think what this introduction of a new coin shows is economic pressure that is being felt by the Houthis.  There is a liquidity crisis in Yemen.  What this all points to is the importance of returning Yemen to a period of stability where its economic resources can be used to promote stability and benefit for all Yemenis, where salaries can be paid according to the terms of the roadmap, where Yemen’s fisheries are not endangered by attacks on oil tankers and other ships that could threaten these vital ecosystems.  And that’s, again, why we need to make this push toward the Yemen peace effort, which will help the humanitarian situation and also help Yemen – Yemenis rebuild their economy. 

MODERATOR:  Now Lama Alhamawi from Arab News asks:  “You met with officials in Riyadh this week to discuss the recent Houthi attacks on vessels on the Red Sea.  Who did you meet with, and what were the results of those meetings?” 

MR LENDERKING:  Well, thank you.  I continue to meet with a broad range of officials in Riyadh.  I did meet – I did mention the Yemen foreign minister, who was on his way to Aden, and that was a pleasure to meet him for the first time in this new capacity.  And of course, we welcome the presence of the legitimate Yemeni Government in Yemen, where it can connect with the Yemeni people, I think do projects that are of benefit to the Yemeni people, and demonstrate its accountability to the Yemeni people.  I also do meet with a broad array of Saudi officials and other Yemenis who may be found in Riyadh at the times that I am there.  I think all these consultations are extremely important in narrowing the differences that may exist between the conflict parties and ensuring that the international community is fully behind a genuine and sustained peace effort in Yemen, that these efforts are coordinated and focused and determined. 

MODERATOR:  Now Amina Zaki from Dostor asks:  “Is there cooperation with Arab countries and Egypt to confront the challenges in the Red Sea?” 

MR LENDERKING:  Well, thank you so much.  Of course, we talk about Yemen as a regional issue, and indeed it is; while Yemen is connected by border with Saudi Arabia and Oman, and those two countries have a special stake, the Egyptians have had longstanding interest in Yemen.  And we see that Yemen’s stability is a benefit to all countries in the Middle East.  And so that’s why I think the regional effort is so important to what we are doing.  We welcomed Algeria on the Security Council, for example, recently, and we’ve had very productive conversations with all the members of the Security Council about the need to push Yemen peace efforts forward.  The Egyptian economy is taking a terrible hit as a result of attacks on the Red Sea, with revenues from the Suez Canal decreasing by 50 percent.  And this is why we say that the – that the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping have such a negative impact, and why that impact is spread out and being felt by ordinary people, ordinary consumers, and obstructing the movement of fuel, food, medicine to people who need it around this entire region. 

MODERATOR:  All right, we just have time for just a couple more quick questions, if you have time, sir.  From Jamila Alabri from Atheer in Oman, and she asks:  “If the attacks on ships continue in the future, will America continue its attacks?  And are there clear statistics on the losses resulting from the rerouting of shipping routes and ports?” 

MR LENDERKING:  There are some terrific websites and a lot of open-source reporting on the impact of the attacks on Red Sea shipping.  We look at those quite extensively ourselves.  Every single country almost in the region is impacted in one way or the other, in a negative way – a loss of revenues, blockage of essential commodities, driving up of insurance costs, of fuel costs.  The diversion of ships from going through the Red Sea and going around Africa instead adds millions of dollars in fees that is going to be passed on to consumers and to ordinary people in each of these countries, and it’s a shame to see this kind of impact continue when it’s not necessary to resolving the conflict in Gaza. 

So again, I think that’s why we point to the urgency of ending these attacks on Red Sea shipping, returning the focus to the Yemeni peace process. 

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  We’ve unfortunately run out of time, so I’m sorry for those who have not been able to get their questions answered.  But we’ll turn the floor back to Special Envoy Lenderking for any closing remarks, sir. 

MR LENDERKING:  Hala and colleagues, thank you so much for organizing this call today, and thank you to the many callers who called in from periodicals and publications and organizations from around the region.  I value very much this conversation, I look forward to further opportunities, and once again, the United States, very committed to the peace effort in Yemen.  We must stay focused and committed, we must consult our partners, and think of the needs of the Yemeni people first and foremost.  Ramadan kareem to all of you.   

MODERATOR:  Thank you, sir.  That concludes today’s call.  I would like to thank the special envoy for joining us, and thank all of our colleagues from the media for participating.  If you have any questions about today’s call, please do contact the Dubai Regional Media Hub at DubaiMediaHub@state.gov.  Thank you for joining us for this important briefing today, and have a lovely rest of your day.