The U.S. administration has announced its decision to designate the armed Houthi rebels in Yemen as a global terrorist organization due to their attacks on civilian shipping in the region. This was mentioned in an official statement from the U.S. Department of State released on Wednesday.
"The Department of State today is announcing the designation of Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, effective 30 days from today," the statement said.
The designation will take effect 30 days from the announcement. The Department of State emphasized that the Houthi rebels must be held accountable for their actions, but this should not be at the expense of the civilian population in Yemen. Over the next 30 days, the U.S. government will engage with humanitarian aid providers and suppliers of essential goods to Yemen to mitigate any negative consequences for the Yemeni people.
In recent months, the Houthis have carried out unprecedented attacks on international maritime vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as on military forces protecting commercial shipping in the region. These attacks on international shipping have endangered sailors and disrupted trade flows.
During the Trump administration, the Houthis were initially designated as a global terrorist group. In February 2021, the U.S. removed them from the list, but the recent decision reinstates their designation.
