Washington re-lists the Houthis on the list of “terrorist groups”
Today (Wednesday), the United States announced the re-listing of the Yemeni Houthis on the list of “terrorist” entities due to their repeated attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement: “Today, the US State Department announces the designation of (Ansar Allah), known as (Houthis), a specially designated global terrorist entity, effective 30 days from today.”
He added: “The Houthis must be held accountable for their actions, but this must not be at the expense of Yemeni civilians.” He continued: “During the 30-day period, the US government will conduct strong communication with stakeholders, aid providers, and partners who play a critical role in facilitating humanitarian aid and the commercial import of vital goods into Yemen.”
For his part, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan explained that the designation is “an important tool to obstruct terrorist financing for the Houthis, further restrict their access to financial markets, and hold them accountable for their actions.” Sullivan said in a statement: “If the Houthis stop their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the United States will immediately reevaluate this designation.”
In parallel, the Yemeni government welcomed the United States’ decision, today, to classify the Houthis in Yemen as a “global terrorist group.” The government said, in a statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the decision “comes in response to the government’s continuing call on the international community to take serious action to protect the Yemeni people from the oppression and terrorism of these militias.”
The government reiterated its emphasis that “to bring peace to Yemen, the Houthi militias must abandon their terrorist approach and their dependence on the Iranian regime, renounce violence and accept peace initiatives, including the road map proposed by the brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and all praiseworthy efforts to preserve the security and stability of Yemen and the region.” .
The inclusion of the Houthis on the list of “terrorist” entities comes within the framework of Washington’s strategy to pressure the Houthis, which included carrying out military actions against them.
In the first reaction to the American decision, a Houthi spokesman told Reuters news agency that the United States’ move “will not affect our position and the attacks on ships heading to Israel will continue.”
The pro-Iranian group has carried out about 29 attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 19, including significant casualties that affected a Norwegian, an American, and a third Greek ship, in addition to pirating the Galaxy Leader ship, detaining its crew, and turning it into a shrine. For followers of the group.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal quoted American officials as saying that the Biden administration intends to announce the decision to officially re-list the Houthi group on the list of “foreign terrorist organizations” today (Wednesday).
This comes days after the United States and Britain announced air strikes on the group’s sites, with the aim of disrupting and weakening its ability to endanger freedom of navigation and threaten global trade. The Houthis launched dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea in response to the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
The Houthis between Trump and Biden
The administration of former US President Donald Trump had classified the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, due to strong objections from human rights groups to their actions, but the Biden administration decided at the beginning of its term to remove the group from the list, due to fears that its inclusion would harm the prospects of peace talks and cause further harm. The Yemeni economy in a country facing the specter of famine.
While sanctions supporters argue that mechanisms could be created to exclude food and humanitarian aid from entering Yemen, aid organizations are concerned that fears of violating US regulations could make shipping companies, banks, and other actors unwilling to risk supplying this aid to Yemen. Yemen imports 90 percent of its food from abroad.
A senior White House official told the Associated Press, “Addressing the ongoing threat posed by the Houthis in Yemen to commercial ships in the Red Sea is a major problem that the United States and its allies must address together to reduce its impact on the global economy.”
The US delegate to the Security Council, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said last week that since November, 2,000 ships have been forced to divert thousands of miles to avoid the Red Sea, noting that the Houthis have threatened sailors and taken hostages from more than 20 countries.
Greenfield stressed that the attacks launched by the United States in conjunction with Britain “were necessary, proportionate, and consistent with international law… and part of the United States exercising its right to self-defense.”
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2024-01-18 04:05:07
