US labels the Houthis as a terrorist group

The State Department on Friday designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, following a mid-January warning to crack down on the Yemen-based militant group.

The move officially designates the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, a move that gives the United States new powers to crack down on the Iran-backed Houthis' access to the global financial system.

It restores a designation the group was given late in the Trump administration and that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken reversed shortly after taking office in 2021, in part to facilitate peace talks for Yemen's civil war.

Last month, Mr. Blinken announced the State Department's intention to put the Houthis back on the terrorism list, but he delayed the action for 30 days. The pause was partly intended to give humanitarian aid groups working in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen time to ensure their work does not conflict with new United States sanctions that will punish anyone who provides support to the militant group. Some aid groups have warned that their work will inevitably be limited in a country with serious humanitarian needs.

Mr Blinken said in January that the delay in implementation was also intended to give the Houthis – who are the de facto government in northern Yemen and backed by Iran – a chance to resume their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and to strike the Gulf of India. Aden, which have disrupted global trade, causing delays and higher prices. These attacks have recently led to dozens of U.S. airstrikes in response. But neither U.S. military action nor the threat of a terrorist designation has deterred the Houthis.

A State Department spokesperson noted that this morning a missile launched from Yemen struck an India-bound Panamanian-flagged crude oil vessel. The official said the ship was heading south under its own power.

Some Republican hawks have criticized President Biden for not placing the Houthis in another official category, known as a foreign terrorist organization, which they say would allow for harsher U.S. penalties and greater ability to target the group's financial supporters to prosecute. The Trump administration designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist; Mr. Blinken reversed both designations.

The newly reinstated designation of the Specially Designated Global Terrorist group could be removed again if the Houthis stop their aggressive behavior, Mr. Blinken said last month.