The Biden administration is reportedly planning to relist the Houthi rebels as a specially designated global terrorist group, reversing a decision Secretary of State Antony Blinken made shortly after President Biden took office to remove the designation and de-list the Iran-backed group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization over concerns about humanitarian aid into Yemen. The Trump administration had designated the group as an FTO and SDGT near the end of the 45th president's term.
"The SDGT designation is distinct from an FTO in that it carries different implications for the potential delivery of humanitarian aid," according to CBS. "A foreign terrorist organization label can trigger sanctions for those who provide 'material support' to a designated group."
The decision, which is expected to be announced later Wednesday, comes as the Houthis have launched numerous attacks in the Red Sea against commercial ships in retaliation over Israel’s war against Hamas. The hostility in the region has forced many shipping companies to reroute their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
Last week, a U.S.-led coalition launched a series of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen after the rebel force defied an ultimatum to halt its attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea.
The strikes—conducted by U.S. and British forces and supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands—were intended to reduce the Houthis’ attacks, which the group said it launched in response to Israel’s war on the Hamas in Gaza.
The predominantly Shia Islamist Houthis, who are supported with arms and funding by Iran, overthrew Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the capital of San’a in 2014. […]
On Tuesday, the U.S. struck militants at Houthi sites, in the third such attack in less than a week. That strike came a day after the Houthis fired an antiship missile on the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned-and-operated containership.
Several hours after the U.S. strikes Tuesday, the Houthis launched a missile at a Greek-owned, Maltese-flagged ship, striking it. The vessel remained seaworthy and no injuries were reported, the U.S. military said. (WSJ)
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday the administration is "still in the process of reviewing" whether the Houthis would be re-designated as an FTO.
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