by The State Department on Friday designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, fulfilling a mid-January warning to crack down on the Yemen-based militant group.
The move officially labels the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist group, a step that gives the United States new powers to suppress the Iran-backed Houthis’ access to the global financial system.
It restores a designation given to the group late in the Trump administration, which Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken revoked shortly after taking office in 2021, in part to facilitate peace talks for Yemen’s civil war.
Last month, Blinken announced the State Department’s intention to return the Houthis to its terrorist list, but delayed the action by 30 days. The pause was intended in part to give humanitarian aid groups working in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen time to ensure their work does not conflict with new U.S. sanctions that will punish anyone who provides support to the militant group. . Some aid groups have warned that their work will inevitably be limited in a country with dire humanitarian needs.
Blinken said in January that the delay in implementation was also intended to give the Houthis, who are the de facto government in northern Yemen and are backed by Iran, a chance to cease their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. and the Gulf of Aden, which have disrupted global trade causing delays and higher prices. Those attacks have recently prompted dozens of US airstrikes in response. But neither US military action nor the threat of a terrorist designation has deterred the Houthis.
A State Department spokesperson noted that this morning, a missile launched from Yemen hit a Panama-flagged ship headed to India and carrying crude oil. The official said the ship continues south under its own power.
Some hawkish Republicans have criticized President Biden for not placing the Houthis in a different official category, known as a foreign terrorist organization, which they say would allow for tougher U.S. sanctions and greater ability to prosecute financial supporters. of the group. The Trump administration designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, as well as a specially designated global terrorist; Blinken reversed both designations.
The newly restored Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group designation may be removed again if the Houthis stop their aggressive behavior, Blinken said last month.
