UAE Asks US To Reinstate Terrorist Designation Against Houthis

The United Arab Emirates has asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reinstate the terrorist designation on the Houthi rebels in Yemen in the wake of a drone attack on the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company storage facility in Abu Dhabi’s Mussafah area that left three dead and more injured. The request by Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed came during a phone call with the secretary of state on Monday, hours after the attack. Zayed also cited the Houthi’s seizure earlier this month of a UAE-flagged cargo ship that it continues to hold along with its 11-member crew as cause for reinstating the terrorist designation, Axios reported. The readout from the US State Department of the Blinken-Zayed call said only that “Secretary Blinken condemned the terrorist attacks today, which killed and wounded innocent civilians. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for this appalling attack. The Secretary expressed his solidarity with the Emirati people and voiced his condolences for the loss of life.” US President Joe Biden rolled back the designation levied by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, about a month after he took office in order to make it easier to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen, which the United Nations calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi rebels, of which the UAE is a member, launched retaliatory airstrikes on Monday night on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, including one that killed about 14 people in a building in Sanaa. The Houthi attack has been condemned throughout the region, including by Israel, and around the world.