Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered Yemen's Houthi rebels $1 billion in exchange for a ceasefire and an end to attacks on Saudi territory, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom that cited diplomatic sources in the Gulf. The reported Saudi Houthi $1 billion offer, said to have been carried to Tehran by Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, would be routed through Iran, which is acting as a mediator between Riyadh and the Iran-backed rebel group. The claim has not been independently verified, and Saudi officials have not confirmed that any money was transferred.
According to Israel Hayom, Prince Khalid bin Salman travelled to Tehran for discussions aimed at securing an understanding with the Houthis through Iranian mediation. The newspaper, citing diplomatic sources in the Gulf, reported that the proposed arrangement would see $1 billion transferred to the Houthi group via Iran in return for a halt to attacks on Saudi infrastructure, including airports and oil facilities.
One diplomatic source went further, claiming that the Saudi minister had brought the money with him aboard the military transport aircraft on which he arrived in Tehran. That detail has not been independently verified. A Saudi official did not confirm any payment or transfer, and no evidence has emerged that money changed hands.
The talks in Tehran reportedly brought together an unusual cast. On the Iranian side were President Masoud Pezeshkian, Supreme National Security Council Secretary General Mohsen Rezaei and senior officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Turkey's intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, and Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, also took part, alongside representatives of the Mecca Joint Defence Alliance.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Prince Khalid's visit had taken place, but framed it in broader terms. "The visit to Tehran by Prince Khalid bin Salman, the defence minister, and representatives of the member states of the Mecca Joint Defence Alliance comes as part of the alliance's ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions between the parties to the current crisis, encourage dialogue and diplomatic solutions, and support the mediation efforts undertaken by the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," the ministry said.
A Saudi official, while not confirming the $1 billion transfer, added a detail that points to the deeper dispute: part of the disagreement with the Houthis concerned the implementation of understandings reached three years ago, under which Saudi financial aid would help the Houthis pay public-sector salaries and rebuild infrastructure in exchange for upholding a ceasefire.
The Houthis, a Zaidi Shia movement from northern Yemen, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and have fought a devastating war with a Saudi-led coalition since 2015. A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 sharply reduced front-line fighting, but no comprehensive peace deal was ever signed, and the underlying bargain — Saudi money for Houthi restraint — has been renegotiated ever since.
The Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi targets, including airports and oil installations, and have also attacked shipping in the Red Sea, presenting their campaign as solidarity with Palestinians and, more recently, as part of the wider confrontation between Iran and its rivals. The attacks have at times forced the temporary shutdown of Saudi oil facilities and rattled global energy markets, since the kingdom is the world's largest crude exporter and the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the region's oil flows, sits at the centre of the current crisis.
The reported $1 billion offer lands in an unusually dangerous regional moment. The United States and Iran are in open confrontation, with American forces in the region on high alert, and Saudi Arabia has a direct interest in keeping itself out of the line of fire. Attacks on its airports, refineries and other critical infrastructure threaten not only its security but the economic diversification programme at the heart of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, which depends on foreign investment and an image of stability.
What Riyadh reportedly wants is straightforward: a durable halt to Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi soil, protecting its oil exports, its airports and the investment climate it has spent a decade building. What the Houthis would get, under the reported terms, is $1 billion channelled through Iran, alongside the older understandings on salaries and reconstruction.
The structure matters. Routing the money through Tehran would give Iran, the Houthis' principal backer, a direct stake in enforcing the deal — and a lever if it breaks down. It would also signal how far the region's diplomacy has shifted: Saudi Arabia and Iran, rivals for decades, restored diplomatic relations in 2023, and Riyadh is now asking Tehran to deliver a rebel group it arms.
For Washington, the episode is a reminder of how much of the Middle East's security architecture now runs through channels the United States does not control. American officials have spent months trying to contain the Iran confrontation and protect Gulf energy flows; a Saudi-Houthi bargain brokered by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan would be a further sign that regional powers are hedging their bets. Readers following the wider crisis can also read our earlier reporting on reported US strike plans against Iran and on the ceasefire efforts in Ukraine.
Neither Riyadh nor the Houthis has confirmed the $1 billion figure. The Saudi Foreign Ministry's statement confirmed the visit but said nothing about money, and no official Houthi statement on the reported offer had emerged by the time the reports circulated.
What did emerge from the Houthi side on Tuesday was defiance, not acceptance. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted the Saudi defence ministry in Riyadh with a ballistic missile. "Our armed forces targeted the Ministry of Defence in the enemy Saudi capital, Riyadh, with a ballistic missile and the hit was direct," Saree said.
The group also claimed strikes on military transport aircraft in southern Saudi Arabia and on the Ras Tanura refinery in the Eastern Province, the kingdom's largest oil terminal. If confirmed, the claims would show that, whatever was discussed in Tehran, the Houthis were still firing on the day the offer was reported.
Posts circulating online attributed to Houthi supporters claimed the group would reject any payment, with one widely shared post asserting that even $10 billion would not stop the attacks. Those posts are unverified and are not an official Houthi position, but they underline the scepticism any deal will face: for a movement that has built its identity on resistance to Saudi Arabia, accepting Riyadh's money in exchange for quiet would be a politically costly bargain.
The stakes go well beyond Yemen. A halt to Houthi attacks would remove one of the most persistent threats to Gulf energy infrastructure at a moment when oil markets are already on edge over the US-Iran confrontation. For American consumers, that matters directly: disruptions to Saudi exports and Hormuz shipping feed into petrol and diesel prices, which voters have repeatedly cited as their top economic concern ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
A deal would also test whether Iran can act as a genuine mediator rather than simply a patron. If Tehran delivered a Houthi ceasefire, it would strengthen its claim to be an indispensable regional power — even as it confronts the United States militarily. If the Houthis kept firing, it would suggest Iran either cannot or will not restrain its allies, a finding with obvious implications for any wider negotiation.
For Saudi Arabia, the episode carries domestic risk too. Paying a rebel group that has bombed its cities is a hard sell at home, which may explain why Riyadh has neither confirmed nor denied the figure. The kingdom's official line — de-escalation, dialogue, mediation — allows it to pursue the deal while keeping its distance from it.
Three things will show whether the reported offer is real. First, whether Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia pause in the coming days; a quiet week would be the strongest evidence that something was agreed. Second, whether any party confirms the money — a Saudi, Iranian or Houthi statement, or a visible payment for salaries or reconstruction in Houthi-held Yemen. Third, whether the Mecca Joint Defence Alliance's diplomacy produces a public statement, a follow-up meeting or a formal ceasefire text.
Until then, the report should be treated as what it is: a single-sourced claim from one newspaper, citing unnamed Gulf diplomats, about a negotiation that all sides have reason to keep quiet. The confirmed facts are narrower but significant in themselves — a Saudi defence minister in Tehran, a declared de-escalation mission, and missiles still flying on the same day.
US News Pulse will update this story as Saudi, Iranian or Houthi officials respond and as the claimed attacks are independently verified.
It has been reported, not confirmed. Israel Hayom cited Gulf diplomatic sources for the $1 billion figure; Saudi Arabia confirmed Prince Khalid bin Salman's Tehran visit but has not confirmed any payment, and the claim has not been independently verified.
Iran is the Houthis' principal backer and, under the reported arrangement, would mediate the deal. Routing the payment through Tehran would give Iran a stake in enforcing the ceasefire.
A halt to Houthi attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and other infrastructure, protecting its energy exports and the investment climate behind Vision 2030.
No acceptance has been reported. On the contrary, the Houthis claimed missile attacks on Riyadh's defence ministry and the Ras Tanura refinery on the same day the report emerged.
It is the regional grouping whose representatives accompanied Prince Khalid to Tehran; Saudi Arabia says its mission is to de-escalate tensions, encourage dialogue and support mediation by Qatar and Pakistan.
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