Barran Press
On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Embassy in Yemen announced that it held meetings with Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, to discuss strategies for countering Houthi aggression both within Yemen and beyond.
In a brief statement shared via the embassy's official account on X (monitored by Barran Press), it was noted, "We met with President al-Alimi, where we discussed regional security issues and countering Houthi aggression inside and outside Yemen with Jesse Levinson, the U.S. State Department’s Director for Counterterrorism for the Middle East."
On December 15, the Yemeni news agency Saba reported on the meeting, detailing that President al-Alimi spoke about efforts to implement governmental reforms in security, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism authorities. He emphasized the need for support to enhance their capabilities in deterring various threats.
Al-Alimi also addressed the threats posed by the Houthis and their allied groups, highlighting serious human rights violations, assaults, and ongoing acts of piracy against commercial shipping, which are allegedly supported by the Iranian regime.
According to the agency, al-Alimi praised the close cooperation between Yemen and the U.S. in combating terrorism, expressing the Presidential Leadership Council’s and the government’s desire to intensify international pressure on the Houthi militias, including classifying them as a terrorist organization and cutting off their funding and arms supply.