Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi on Sunday acknowledged that the Iran-backed group had suffered a defeat in the southern Yemeni city of Aden in recent weeks and said he was open to a political solution to the crisis that has gripped the country since September 2014.

The comments came during a televised address on the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel and reflect a change in Houthi’s usual rhetoric. However, he also described the “victory” by the Arab coalition targeting the Houthis as “limited,” since the coalition had “pooled resources from several countries.”

Aided by airstrikes from a Saudi-led Arab coalition, forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi succeeded in recent weeks in driving the Houthis out of Aden and securing most of the city. Several members of Yemen’s exiled government have returned to Aden recently, most notably Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah who visited the city on Saturday.

Houthi also said during his address on Al-Masirah that he was open to a political solution to the country’s crisis and said it was “within reach and possible,” adding that he welcomed “any efforts or attempts in this regard from any non-biased Arab or international sides.”

Meanwhile, a senior commander in the Popular Resistance—a coalition of volunteers and military cadres loyal to President Hadi—told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday an operation to retake the southern provinces of Abyan and Lahj from the Houthis was now underway. The source said army units as well as tanks and military vehicles are being used in the operation.

On Friday, another Popular Resistance commander, Brig. Gen. Abdullah Al-Subaihi, told Asharq Al-Awsat a separate campaign to liberate the capital Sana’a via the cities of Taiz and Ma’rib would be launched in the coming days.

The Houthis, backed by Iran and Yemen’s ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, overran the capital in September 2014 and in February of this year launched a coup deposing President Hadi and the government.

Forces loyal to Saleh in the military and the Republican Guards—formerly led by Saleh’s son Ahmed—have aided the Houthi advance throughout the country since September.

On Saturday, a military source in Sana’a told Asharq Al-Awsat some members of the Republican Guards are however starting to defect from Houthi ranks and refusing to take orders from their Houthi commanders.

“This moment was inevitable and expected given the substantial differences between the Republican Guards and the Houthi militias. They could never have formed a single military force together,” the source said.

Other sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat in recent days that a rift has opened between Saleh and the Houthis over who has jurisdiction in different parts of the country currently occupied by a coalition of Saleh loyalists and the Iran-backed Shi’ite group, with the Houthis taking over sole control of several areas and government entities.