Biden admin to relist Houthis as specially designated global terrorists – source

The Biden administration was expected to announce plans to relist Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as specially designated global terrorists, a US official tells Reuters.

The US military has carried out a series of strikes in Yemen against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country in response to attacks by the rebel group that have disrupted Red Sea shipping.

The Iran-allied Houthi militia has threatened to expand its attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen.

The Houthi group, officially known as Ansar Allah, has been attacking vessels in the Red Sea since the October 7 shock Hamas attacks on southern Israel that triggered the Israel-Hamas war. They say their actions are in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The group’s slogan officially goes: “God Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.”

The Houthis, who seized much of Yemen in a civil war, have vowed to attack ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports en route in the Red Sea.

However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel.

US President Joe Biden on Friday called Yemen’s Houthi forces a “terrorist” group, after American and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen overnight.

The Houthi militia movement has threatened a “strong and effective response.”