Omani and Saudi delegations have agreed with Houthi leaders to extend the expired ceasefire from six months to one year, and an official announcement is expected soon, a Yemeni government official told Xinhua on anonymity on Monday.

As a mediator, Oman has been involved in peace talks with the warring parties in Yemen for years, running in parallel with UN efforts. The UN had helped reach a six-month nationwide truce last year, but the ceasefire expired in October as Yemen's warring sides failed to reach an agreement to extend it.

Meeting on April 9 is the first time that leaders of Houthi and Saudi Arabia held discussions in public in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa, in the presence of Omani delegates. The visit follows the recent diplomatic reconciliation between the kingdom and Iran.

Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber said Monday that his visit to Sanaa was intended to revive the ceasefire and resume political negotiations with the ultimate goal of ending the nine-year conflict.

He said on Twitter that the visit aimed to "stabilize the truce and ceasefire, support the process of exchanging prisoners, and explore possibilities for dialogue between various Yemeni factions to achieve a sustainable and comprehensive political solution in Yemen."

Earlier in the day, Yemen's internationally recognized government welcomed the recent efforts, saying "the current situation provides a greater opportunity for peace to be restored in Yemen than ever before."

Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, hailed the progress in Yemen peace talks on Monday.

Dujarric said that the discussions in Sanaa were "very much welcomed by the secretary-general" and added that the UN will continue to be "in close coordination with the regional member states" over resuming the political process, with the hope of avoiding any escalation in the long-running war.

The spokesperson noted that the UN had not been involved in the talks in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital.

"We are not involved in every discussion, we don't need to be," he said. "What is important is that all of these parties work towards the relevant Security Council resolution, the UN-facilitated talks, and all signals are that they are.”

The UN has been trying to mediate a political settlement to the Yemeni conflict, but prior efforts have failed due to a lack of trust between the warring parties and continued violence on the ground. However, last year's humanitarian truce brought some hope for a peaceful resolution to Yemen's conflict by considerably reducing violence across the country. 

Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthis fighting against the internationally recognized Yemeni government. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in the conflict in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 and imposed strict restrictions on the flow of goods into import-reliant Yemen.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands and left 80 percent of Yemen's population dependent on humanitarian aid.

(With input from Xinhua)