After rocket attacks
USA wants to put Houthis back on terror list
January 17, 2024, 7:12 a.m
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The Houthis repeatedly attack ships in the Red Sea with missiles. Now the US administration is planning to put the militia on the terrorist list. The US government has so far refrained from taking even more drastic measures.
After a series of attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia on shipping in the Red Sea, the US government wants to put the Shiite group back on the list of global terrorists, according to media reports. This could mean that more far-reaching sanctions could be imposed against the organization, which is supported by Iran and has recently repeatedly fired rockets into the south of Israel.
The New York Times reports that the Biden administration wants to put the Houthis back on the list starting in February. This is intended, among other things, to cut off the militia from access to the global financial system. When classifying terrorism, the USA differentiates between “global terrorists” and “foreign terrorist organizations”. The distinction plays a role in the sanctions associated with each category. For the time being, only the Houthis should be classified in the category of “global terrorists”.
According to the New York Times, the broader classification would have made it much easier to prosecute anyone who knowingly provided the Houthis with money, supplies, training or other “material support.” However, according to aid organizations, this could also make humanitarian aid to the country more difficult.
Blinken took Houthis off the terrorist list
Shortly before the end of the term of office of the then US President Donald Trump, his Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo had the Houthis classified in both categories in 2021. Pompeo’s successor, Antony Blinken, reversed this shortly afterwards to make it easier to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen. Civil war has been raging in the impoverished country since 2014. A large part of the population lives in areas controlled by the Houthis. According to the UN, millions of people suffer from hunger.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas, the Houthi militia has repeatedly attacked merchant ships with alleged Israeli connections in the Red Sea. The USA and Great Britain responded with comprehensive military strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen. Large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the Red Sea route, through which around ten percent of world trade normally passes. The Houthi militia in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon belong to the “axis of resistance” against Israel.