Houthis say they won't attack US vessels in Red Sea, and other Mideast developments

A senior Houthi official says the Iran-backed rebels have assured Donald Trump’s administration they will not attack U.S. vessels in the Red Sea. Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, speaking from Sanaa, told The Associated Press that Washington reached out after the Houthis’ rapid advance earlier this month toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. “We confirmed that we are not targeting the United States… with the sole exception of the Saudi enemy,” he said. The comments came days after the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at Saudi Arabia’s capital. Meanwhile, Abbas Araghchi will stop in Qatar before the UN General Assembly, and CIA director John Ratcliffe is in Egypt meeting President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.