The Biden administration plans to designate Yemen's Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, partially reversing penalties nearly three years ago against the Iran-backed group whose attacks on Red Sea shipping drew a response from the U.S. military to be imposed again.
Starting in mid-February, the United States will consider the Houthis a “specially designated global terrorist group” and deny them access to the global financial system, among other measures, according to a U.S. official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss policy that had not yet been officially announced.
But Biden officials stopped short of using a second, stricter designation — that of “foreign terrorist organization” — that the Trump administration imposed on the Houthis in their final days. The State Department revoked both designations shortly after President Biden took office in early 2021.
This further step would have made it much easier to prosecute anyone who knowingly provided money, supplies, training or other “material support” to the Houthis. But aid groups say it could also complicate humanitarian aid to Yemen.
The move is a response to and an attempt to halt weeks of Houthi missile and drone attacks on maritime traffic off the coast of Yemen. Those attacks, which the group describes as a show of solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza, have forced some major shipping companies to reroute their ships, causing delays and higher shipping costs around the world. After issuing multiple warnings to the Houthis, Mr Biden ordered dozens of attacks on their facilities in Yemen, although US officials say the group retains most of its ability to attack Red Sea commerce.
But the designation also reflects a careful effort to strike a balance that protects the flow of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen, who have suffered famine, disease and displacement in more than a decade of civil war after the Houthis seized power in the capital of the country in September 2014.
U.S. officials fear that designating the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization could result in aid agencies stopping delivering supplies to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen for fear of prosecution or other U.S. punishment.
But even the lesser designation as a specially designated global terrorist group could jeopardize U.S. and Saudi Arabian efforts to reach a lasting peace deal to end the conflict in Yemen.
Following Israel's military response in Gaza to the October 7 Hamas attacks, the Houthis attempted to show solidarity with the Palestinians by attacking ships they believed were headed to Israel. The Houthis, a religiously inspired Shiite group, profess hatred of Israel.
Jake Sullivan, President Biden's national security adviser, said Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that it was important to signal that “the entire world fundamentally rejects the idea that a group like the Houthis can essentially hijack the world.” .” , how you do it.”
According to an October 2023 report from the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, U.S. officials have not accused the Houthis of planning terrorist attacks outside the region, and the group has fought the local al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.
Yemen's civil war has been exacerbated by intervention by neighboring Saudi Arabia and, at times, the United Arab Emirates, both of which view the Houthis as dangerous proxies of Iran, which provides them with financial and military support.
The conflict created a humanitarian disaster that Mr. Biden sought to address as a candidate in 2020. Led by Tim Lenderking, the U.S. special envoy to Yemen, the Biden administration has helped secure a ceasefire in the conflict and sought to help secure a lasting peace agreement.
Following debate within the Trump administration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist group in mid-January 2021. Iran hawks have been eager to punish the Houthis for their attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as worldwide shipping. Officials at institutions such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations feared the move's impact on humanitarian aid, saying it could lead to famine.
In February 2021, less than three weeks after Mr. Biden took office, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken rescinded Mr. Pompeo's designations. At the time, Mr. Blinken said that “the designations could have a devastating impact on Yemenis’ access to basic goods like food and fuel” and that the rollbacks “are intended to ensure that relevant U.S. policies do not restrict aid to those already on it.” disabled”. are suffering from what is being called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
In a statement on Tuesday after the Associated Press first reported the planned action, Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, condemned Mr. Biden's removal of the Houthis from the terrorist list in 2021 as a sign of “weakness.”
“Removing them from the list of terrorist organizations was a deadly mistake and another failed attempt to appease the Ayatollah,” Mr. Cotton said, referring to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mr. Biden has been mulling the move for at least two years, telling reporters in January 2022 that restoring the Houthis' terrorist designation was “under consideration” after the group carried out a deadly cross-border attack on the United Arab Emirates.
When asked by a reporter last week whether he considered the Houthis a terrorist group, Mr. Biden did not answer equivocally. “I think so,” he replied.
— Michael Crowley reports from Washington