The Biden administration is expected to designate Yemen’s Houthis as a terror group this week, less than three years after reversing a Trump-era decision to add the Iran-backed group, according to sources familiar with the decision.
Some US officials had been lobbying against the move out of fear that the progress made in reaching a fragile ceasefire between warring parties in Yemen would unravel. Others have warned it could make the transfer of aid to parts of the country more difficult, which is considered to be experiencing one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world.
The US military has also launched multiple strikes against the Houthis inside of Yemen after the group began targeting commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which they have claimed were heading to Israel. The Houthis have targeted and struck US warships in the region.
Republican lawmakers have long criticized the Biden administration’s decision to remove the Houthis as a terror group.
The US began reconsidering designating the Houthis after multiple attacks last year on the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the Biden administration had previously lifted senior Houthi officials’ names off the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list.
