Yemen Monitor/Washington/Exclusive:
The White House on Wednesday officially added the Houthis to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
Trump’s order declares that the U.S.s’ policy is now to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and operations, and to prevent them from the resources needed to continue attacking US interests in the region.
The decision, reviewed by Yemen Monitor, stated: “Supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, which arms and trains terrorist organizations around the world, the Houthis have fired on U.S. Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, putting American men and women in uniform at risk.”
Justifying the decision, the White House said: “Since Houthis seizing of most of Yemen’s population centers by force in 2014-2015, they have launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure, including multiple attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, the deadly attacks in January 2022 on the United Arab Emirates, and over 300 projectiles launched at Israel since October 2023.”
It added: “The Houthis have also attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab el-Mandeb more than 100 times, killing at least four civilian sailors and forcing some commercial shipping in the Red Sea to reroute its path, contributing to global inflation.”
According to the decision, within 30 days of the signing of the executive order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was sworn in to Trump, will propose re-designating the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a designation that is implemented through the State Department. Once this report is issued, Rubio can begin implementing the new sanctions.
The order will also require the U.S. Agency for International Development to reassess all of its funding priorities in Yemen to ensure that the Houthis do not benefit.”
