The U.S. Calls New Houthi Claims 'Fabricated and Propaganda'

Two American officials denied the Houthi claim that Washington proposed to recognize their government in exchange for halting their attacks. Reuters reported early Tuesday, September 17, citing an unnamed American official, who called the Houthi claims 'completely fabricated.' Earlier, a U.S. State Department official separately told Reuters, 'Houthi propaganda is rarely real or newsworthy.' This American official also stated, 'Coverage of such news makes false information appear credible.' The new claim by the Iran-backed Houthis that the United States would recognize their government in exchange for stopping their attacks was made on Monday by a senior member of the group. Mohammed al-Bukhiti, a member of the Houthi political office, claimed in an interview with Al Jazeera that 'after every operation we have conducted,' messages from the U.S. or Britain have been conveyed to the group through intermediaries. He claimed that despite the 'threatening or tempting' nature of the messages and proposals, 'they have not been able to achieve anything this way so far.' The remarks from this Houthi official came a day after a ballistic missile fired by the group reached the center of Israel for the first time and reportedly landed in an open area, according to the Israeli army. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the Houthis would pay a 'heavy price' for this attack. Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Iran-backed Houthis have launched several rockets, missiles, or drones towards Israel and have conducted dozens of attacks against ships passing through the region, claiming to support the Palestinians in Gaza. Reports indicate that over the past ten months, more than 80 vessels have been targeted by Houthi missile and drone attacks, resulting in two ships sinking, one ship being seized by them, and at least three crew members of these ships being killed.