WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s government is recalling the designation of Yemen’s Houthi as a terrorist group, citing the need to mitigate one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
President Donald Trump’s government described the Iran – backed Houthi as a foreign terrorist organization, a move that limited the provision of aid to the beleagured Yemeni people, who were suffering from years of civil war and famine.
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A senior State Department official confirmed the move after members of Congress were notified of the government’s plans. The official, who was not authorized to speak in public and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the removal did not change the Biden government’s view of the Houthis, who targeted civilians and kidnapped Americans. .
“Our actions are entirely due to the humanitarian consequences of the last appointment of the previous government, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear to accelerate the worst humanitarian crisis in the world,” the official said.
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The move comes a day after Biden put an end to offensive support for Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Houthis.
In 2015, the Obama administration gave its approval to Saudi Arabia, which is leading a cross-border campaign targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which has seized more and more territory, including Sanaa. The Houthis launched several drone and missile attacks deep into Saudi Arabia. The US says the Saudi-led campaign has entrenched Iran’s role in the conflict on the side of the Houthis.
The US, which provided assistance to Saudi Arabia’s command and control, was supposed to reduce civilian casualties in the Saudi-led airstrikes. But bombings since then have killed many Yemeni civilians, including schoolboys in a bus and fishermen in their boats. Survivors displayed fragments showing that the bombs were made in the United States.
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Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut praised the Biden government’s move, saying the name did not affect the Houthis in any practical way, but it did prevent food and other critical aid from being delivered within Yemen and would be effective negotiation could occur.