Jan. 17 (UPI) — The United States on Wednesday designated Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization for their ongoing targeting of shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the designation against the Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, saying it would make it harder for the organization to access financial markets and fund their operations.
“Over the past months, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in unprecedented attacks against the United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” Sullivan said in a White House statement. “These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism.
“They have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardizing global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. The United States and the international community have been united in our response and in condemning these attacks in the strongest terms.”
Sullivan noted that the designation will not take effect for 30 days to allow for “humanitarian carve outs” to reduce the impact on civilians in Yemen.
“The people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis,” Sullivan said. “We are sending a clear message: Commercial shipments into Yemeni ports on which Yemeni people rely for food, medicine and fuel should continue and are not covered by our sanctions.”
He added that if the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the United States “will immediately re-evaluate this designation.”
The move comes a day after the United States military completed its third round of airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen in response to their attacks in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. U.S. officials said its strikes targeted a building that contained ballistic missiles that posed a threat to U.S. forces and merchant ships.
The Houthis had previously been designated a foreign terrorist organization by former President Donald Trump’s administration shortly before he left office on Jan. 10, 2021, saying that the group receives drones, missiles and training form Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
However, President Joe Biden’s administration removed the designation within a month of taking office.
