Biden says Houthis are a terrorist group, nearly three years after lifting designation

President Biden suggested that the Houthi rebels are a terrorist organization despite formally removing the Trump-era designation from the group nearly three years ago.
  
“I think they are,” Mr. Biden said Friday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, when asked by reporters if the Houthis are a terrorist group, later adding that it was “irrelevant” if the group is labeled as such. 

Mr. Biden’s comments came one day after he ordered airstrikes against the militants following their attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. The Iranian-backed Houthis, who operate in Yemen, have repeatedly attacked ships in response to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

The strikes were carried out in tandem with the United Kingdom and assistance from Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands.

In February 2021, Mr. Biden formally delisted the Houthis from the foreign terrorist organization list, reversing the last-minute decision by former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Biden announced the change as part of his effort to change the U.S. approach to the civil war in Yemen. That same month, Mr. Biden also announced that the U.S. would no longer support offensive operations in Yemen, where war had been raging since 2015.

On Tuesday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the administration is reviewing whether to again designate the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization.

“The Houthi — they’ve made certain decisions up to this time. They have to make certain decisions going forward. And we’ll see what decisions they make. They will bear the consequences for those decisions going forward,” he said at the daily press briefing in response to a question from The Washington Times.

Any group designated as a foreign terrorist organization has its U.S. assets frozen and is banned from doing business with American companies. It also makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to provide support or resources to the organization.

Houthi militants have been targeting ships in the Red Sea, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. The movement has said it will target any ship that travels to Israel but does not stop at Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. Ships that have no ties to Israel or do not travel there will be permitted to pass, the group said.