U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is traveling to the Gulf this week to continue intensive U.S. diplomacy and regional coordination to safeguard maritime security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the midst of Iranian and Houthi attacks on international shipping threatening almost two years of joint progress to end the war in Yemen.
The United States is working with key maritime partners to secure safe passage for global shipping. Special Envoy Lenderking is working with the United Nations, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and other international partners to support a resolution to the Yemen conflict as soon as possible and alleviate the suffering the conflict has caused. Special Envoy Lenderking will meet with regional, international, and UN partners in the Gulf to discuss the necessary steps to secure a durable ceasefire and launch an inclusive, UN-led Yemeni-Yemeni political dialogue, while continuing efforts to ease the economic and humanitarian crises.
The Special Envoy will emphasize the need to contain the Israel-Hamas conflict while pursuing the United States' priority of Yemeni-Yemeni political dialogue to end the war and set Yemen on a firm course for peace and stability. A wider conflict in the Middle East does not serve U.S. interests nor those of our regional partners, who support a lasting peace in Yemen.
