US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, discussed, on Tuesday, with the Under-Secretary of the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Diplomatic Affairs, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ali Bin Isa Al-Harthi, efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in Yemen .

The Oman News Agency said Lenderking met Al-Harthi in Muscat and reviewed "efforts" to support the Yemeni parties to reach a "political solution" that achieves security and stability for Yemen and the countries of the region.

Earlier on Sunday, the State Department announced that Lenderking will visit Oman and Saudi Arabia to support "ongoing peace efforts".

The Department called, in a statement, on the Houthis to "immediately cease their attacks on Yemeni ports", and to "seize" "this opportunity for peace, cooperate with the UN and accept that the only path forward to ending eight years of destructive war is through a negotiated, inclusive Yemeni-led political settlement".

For his part, the UN Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, met on Tuesday with the Head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, and discussed "efforts" to enhance dialogue to reach a political settlement to the crisis in the country.

Grundberg's office said, in a statement, that the discussions focused on "options and ways" to move forward, and "efforts to enhance dialogue to reach a political settlement". No further details were given regarding the meeting.

The meetings of the US and UN envoys come as part of continued international efforts to extend the six-month truce between the internationally-recognised government and the Houthis that ended on 2 October.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have recently escalated their attacks against oil installations located in government-controlled areas to prevent them from exporting crude oil, stipulating that the revenues be allocated to paying employees' salaries in their areas of control.

For more than seven years, Yemen has been witnessing a continuous war between forces loyal to the internationally-recognised government backed by an Arab coalition, led by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled several governorates, including Sana'a, since September 2014.