Trump puts Houthis back on terror blacklist

Former president Joe Biden had removed the Iran-backed group’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation right after assuming office.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that will put the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen back onto the government’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) blacklist.

The order “directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with others, to recommend the re-designation of the Houthis within 30 days.”

In explaining the reasoning for the re-designation, the White House said that “As a result of the Biden administration’s weak policy, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times, launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure in partner nations, and attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times.”

“It is now the policy of the United States to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and thereby end their attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” the statement added.

Trump had put the organization, officially named Ansar Allah, on the list of the most seriously proscribed terrorists as one of his final acts in office in January 2021.

The new Biden administration immediately reversed the decision.

It did not take further action even as the Houthis began supporting Hamas in its war with Israel by firing over 300 drones and missiles at the Jewish state.

More important to the world at large, the Islamists also began launching missiles at cargo ships in international shipping lanes that were headed toward the Jewish state and the Suez Canal, as well as at Western military ships that started patrolling the lanes to protect them.

They also seized several ships and held their crews captive for months at a time.

These acts of war forced most companies to avoid the area and travel much further distances to get their products – mostly oil – to their customers in Europe, thus creating backlogs on production lines and raising prices.

While the U.S. and Great Britain bombed Houthi sites in Yemen several times over the past year, this did not deter the terrorists.

The Israeli air force has also struck military infrastructure sites, including power stations and ports held by the Shiite rebel group that is in control of large areas of the Muslim country.

Last week, outgoing president Joe Biden labeled the group a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

This is not as serious a designation, as, for example, individuals affiliated with an FTO are automatically barred from entering the U.S., whereas this does not apply to those on the SDGT list.

Trump’s order also “directs the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Secretary of State to jointly review United Nations partners, nongovernmental organizations, and contractors operating in Yemen.”

“Following this review, the President will direct USAID to end its relationship with entities that have made payments to the Houthis, or which have opposed international efforts to counter the Houthis while turning a blind eye towards the Houthis’ terrorism and abuses,” the White House statement concluded.

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