Biden Administration Expected To Relist Houthis as a Terrorist Group

The White House has plans to reschedule the Yemen-based Houthi rebels as “specially designated global terrorists,” a US official familiar with the situation told Reuters on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the US military said it had conducted the third round of strikes against the rebel faction, specifically targeting anti-ship ballistic missile launchers primed to be used against civilian or US Navy vessels traversing the nearby Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Tuesday’s strikes followed multiple instances of undeterred Houthi missile attacks over the weekend and through Monday, in which a US-owned and operated bulk carrier was struck and a US Navy vessel was fired at.

President Joe Biden called the Houthi rebels a “terrorist group” in a press conference last Friday following the announcement of the first round of joint US-UK air and naval strikes targeting Houthi sites.

The Houthis, an armed militia closely aligned with Iran, control an extensive area of north and western Yemen, including most of the Red Sea coastline. Adherent to the Zaidi branch of Shia Islam, the Houthis have waged an insurgency against the internationally recognized Yemeni government for nearly a decade; they were actively waring with Iran’s archrival and neighbor, Saudi Arabia, until 2022.

The Houthis have asserted that US-associated ships, in addition to Israeli vessels, will now be subject to their maritime aggression.