The United States is planning to designate the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as a foreign terrorist organization in the twilight of the Trump administration.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation on Sunday and said the State Department would also identify three leaders of the Houthi movement, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, as specially designated global terrorists. The designations are set to go into effect on Jan. 19, a day before Joe Biden is sworn in as the next president.
“These designations will provide additional tools to confront terrorist activity and terrorism by Ansarallah, a deadly Iran-backed militia group in the Gulf region,” Pompeo said, referring to another name used for the Houthis. “The designations are intended to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks threatening civilian populations, infrastructure, and commercial shipping.”
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has been engaged in a protracted fight against the Houthis, who overthrew the Yemeni government roughly five years ago and have attacked Saudi oil sites and other infrastructure. The conflict is seen as a form of proxy war between the kingdom and its main adversary, Iran. Tehran has armed and supported the rebels, while the U.S. has supplied weapons to the Saudis.
Listing the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization prevents them from utilizing U.S. banking and financial institutions, although the move may do little to tamp the group’s budget given that much of their funding comes from Tehran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Some aid organizations warned that the designations could further damage an already ravaged Yemeni economy and make it more difficult for the groups to provide humanitarian relief to the country, the Associated Press reported.
“Yemen’s faltering economy will be dealt a further devastating blow,” said Mohamed Abdi, Yemen director for the Norwegian Refugee Council. He added that businesses and banks might “become unwilling or unable to take on the risk of operating in Yemen.”
Pompeo said that the U.S. recognizes concerns about the effect the designations will have on the humanitarian situation in Yemen and is putting in place measures to reduce the disruption of humanitarian imports and activity.
“We have expressed our readiness to work with relevant officials at the United Nations, with international and non-governmental organizations, and other international donors to address these implications,” the secretary of state said.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political council, denounced the designations and warned that “there will be an escalation from our side” and that the unilateral U.S. move “will derail the peace process brokered by the U.N.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry praised the decision, saying the designations will “force the leaders of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia to return to the table for political consultations.”
The designations come at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Last week, Iran announced it will be rolling out 1,000 additional centrifuges and said it is planning to enrich uranium to 20% in flagrant violation of the nuclear deal. The U.S. responded to the planned nuclear expansion by imposing more sanctions on the Iranian steel industry. The tensions correspond with the one-year anniversary of the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis.
