Biden Redesignates Houthis a Terror Group Following Red Sea Attacks

This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen's Houthi fighters' takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo in the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on Nov. 20, 2023, in the Red Sea, Yemen. (Photo by Houthi Movement via Getty Images)

The Biden administration is moving to re-designate the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as a global terrorist group.

The decision follows three months of unprecedented Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, which the group claims is in support of Hamas in Gaza.

A senior administration official said during a Jan. 16 press call that the “impactful designation” was necessary given the scope of the Houthis’ behavior.

“These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism,” the official said. “They have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation.”

“These attacks are a clear example of terrorism and a violation of international law and a major threat to live, global commerce, and they jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”

The designation will go into effect in 30 days. Officials said that the delay was necessary to allow the State Department to develop “unprecedented carve-outs to minimize the humanitarian consequences” in Yemen.

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“During this 30-day implementation delay, the U.S. government will conduct outreach with stakeholders crucial to facilitating humanitarian assistance and the commercial import of critical commodities to Yemen,” one official said.

US Had Concerns About Humanitarian Aid

The administration will re-designate the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), but won’t re-apply the status of Foreign Terror Organization (FTO).

The decision to apply SDGT status but not FTO is likely to be questioned by lawmakers.

The authority to list an entity as an SDGT comes from an executive order, but FTO designations must be submitted for congressional review. FTO designations also ban designees from receiving U.S. visas or entering the United States and allow victims of the terror group to sue for civil damages.

The Houthis were previously designated by the Trump administration as both an FTO and SDGT. However, President Joe Biden rescinded those designations less than a month after taking office.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time that the decision to rescind was intended to ensure that U.S. humanitarian aid could reach those in Yemen, which he described as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

A senior administration official said that the decision to rescind was “the correct step” for the time but that reapplying SDGT status was the “appropriate tool” to curb ongoing attacks in the Red Sea.

“It’s just a carefully calibrated action to maximize the deterrent impact while mitigating impact on vulnerable Yemeni civilians,” the official said.

“The administration is prioritizing the mitigation of unintended adverse impacts from this designation that might otherwise arise for the people of Yemen.”

Yemen has been locked in a brutal civil war since 2014, with the government, militias, Houthis, and al-Qaeda all vying for power.

The conflict began when the Houthis used Iran-supplied funds and equipment to seize parts of central and northern Yemen, including the national capital of Sanaa.

Nearly 380,000 people have died as a result of the conflict, the United Nations Development Program estimated in a 2021 report. More than 70 percent of that number were under the age of 5, many of whom died from cholera or starvation.

Houthis Continue Attacks on Shipping

The Houthis have conducted a campaign of terror against commercial shipping in the Red Sea for the past three months.

The group claims that its actions are in support of the Hamas terror group and that it’s targeting Israel-bound vessels. In truth, however, the group has attacked vessels from an assortment of nations with no relationship to the ongoing war in Gaza with drones and missiles.

In all, the group has carried out more than 100 attacks on ships in the Red Sea since October 2023. The White House claims that those attacks were facilitated by operational support from Iran.

The Pentagon announced Operation Prosperity Guardian last month, an international coalition effort to protect civilian shipping in the Red Sea, although the effort appears to have done little to stop the violence.

Additionally, the United States and the United Kingdom have conducted limited military strikes against Houthi assets in Yemen as part of an effort to destroy and degrade the group’s ability to threaten international commerce.

One senior administration official said that sanctioning the Houthis as an SDGT would help to “deescalate” the situation and pressure the group to engage in better behavior.

But the U.S. official couldn’t specify how or whether the Houthis were actually exploiting the international financial system to conduct the attacks, or whether the group was using U.S. financial institutions at all.

“We do think that it will have an impact, even if a lot of these transactions that are conducted [are] maybe with foreign companies,” the official said.

“This is a critical piece of the entire puzzle when you’re looking to stop financial flows to an entity.”