US designates Houthis as terrorists after rise in Red Sea attacks
The US is locked in battle with Houthis after the group began attacking commercial ships travelling through Red Sea in response to Israel’s attack against Hamas
The Biden administration will put the Houthi militant group back on a global terrorism list, officials said, as the US looks to cripple its ability to fund Red Sea attacks that have roiled commercial traffic in a vital trade waterway.
The decision to classify the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization partly unwinds a move President Joe Biden made early in his administration revoking that and another terror designation as the US sought to ease the humanitarian crisis in Yemen after years of civil war.
But the US is now locked in a battle with the Houthis after the Iran-backed group began its string of attacks on commercial ships traveling through the Red Sea in response to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The US has responded with a series of airstrikes designed to deter the Houthis from launching further attacks and degrade its ability to attack shipping.
The administration could rescind the designation if the group halts its attacks, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the pending designation. It will take effect in 30 days, the officials said, allowing the US to design sanctions in a way that avoids penalizing ordinary Yemenis.
Wednesday’s move doesn’t include restoring the Houthis to a separate list of foreign terrorist organizations, which the official said would have far wider humanitarian consequences even as it would further restrict the group’s finances.
In the waning days of his administration, former President Donald Trump had labeled the Houthis as a specially designated terrorist organization and a foreign terrorist organization. Biden had unwound that in one of the first acts of his presidency over concerns from the United Nations and others that the designation could impede humanitarian assistance.
The Houthis have said they are targeting ships with links to Israel in response to the war in the Gaza Strip, and are part of a broader flare-up in violence across the Middle East since Hamas militants assaulted Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel struck back. Analysts have suggested that the Houthis welcomed a confrontation with US forces as it would increase their standing among militant groups in the region.
