Trump redesignates Iran-backed Houthi rebels as foreign terrorist organisation

The executive order was issued by Trump on Wednesday.

Washington: US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order designating Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), reversing a Biden-era policy that had removed the group from the State Department’s list of global terror groups.

The executive order was issued by Trump on Wednesday.

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The move grants the US government additional sanctions authority, giving Trump more tools to go after the Iran-backed Yemeni terror group.

The policy comes after the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, fired ballistic missiles at Israel for months, including as recently as Saturday.

The White House said Trump was directing the US Agency for International Development 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 Houthis, who came to power in 2015 amid a civil war in Yemen, have wreaked havoc on global shipping since late 2023, which they say is in support of Hamas and the Palestinians following the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers urged former President Joe Biden to reconsider his February 2021 decision to remove the Houthis from the FTO list, a choice that he said was due to humanitarian considerations.

His administration argued that taking the Houthis off the FTO list was necessary for civilians in Yemen to have better access to aid amid a bloody civil war.

In January 2024, Biden added the Houthis to the US list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists — a designation that is not as strong as the FTO label, and which did not satisfy Capitol Hill lawmakers who sought the higher classification.

In November 2024, Senator Jacky Rosen (Democrat from Nevada) and then-Senator Marco Rubio (Republican from Florida) led a letter calling for Biden to return the Houthis to the FTO list. Rubio is now serving as Trump’s Secretary of State.

“The Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade,” said the text of the executive order, which specifically refers to the Houthis firing more than 300 at Israel since October 2023.

“Supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force,” the order said, “the Houthis have fired at US Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, endangering American men and women in uniform.”

The order also includes a statement of US policy toward the Houthis.

Washington will strive “to cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate Ansar Allah’s capabilities and operations, deprive it of resources and thereby end its attacks on US personnel and civilians, US partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” according to the executive order.