White House announces designation of Houthi group as terrorist organization

The White House announced on Wednesday that it had designated the Houthi group a foreign terrorist organization, just two days after Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States for a new term.

In a statement, the White House confirmed that "Houthi activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East."

He pointed out that "the Houthi activities threaten the safety of our closest regional partners and the stability of global maritime trade."

This classification comes two days after US President Donald Trump was inaugurated as the new President of the United States, succeeding his predecessor Biden.

It is noteworthy that Trump had classified the Houthi militia as a terrorist group at the end of his term in 2019 before the Biden administration, Joe Biden, after taking office in 2021, canceled this classification that Trump had signed before the end of his first term.

Biden's move came in response to concerns from relief organizations that they would be forced to leave Yemen under this classification, given that they are obligated to deal with the Houthis, who control large areas of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

In November 2023, the Houthis began launching attacks targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in solidarity with Palestine. They also declared American and British interests to be “legitimate targets.”

In response, the Biden administration last year re-listed the Houthis as “specially designated global terrorists,” a less stringent designation that allows humanitarian aid into Yemen.

Trump’s executive order said the Houthis “have launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure, including several attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia,” and have fired “more than 300 projectiles into Israel since October 2023,” but the new designation could take weeks to take effect.

The move by the Trump administration on Wednesday aims to reimpose the more restrictive designation of foreign terrorist organizations, and comes amid anticipation by the Houthi militias of how the new administration will deal with them.