Biden may redesignate Houthis as a terrorist organization, two years after lifting designation

The White House said Tuesday that President Biden is considering redesignating Yemen’s Houthi organization as a foreign terrorist group, more than two years after he formally removed the designation.

The potential reversal comes just hours after Iranian-backed Houthi militants said they will not stop attacking ships in the Red Sea in protest over the Israel-Hamas war. 

“We are actually conducting a review right now on whether that’s the right course forward. We’ve talked about that. No decision has been [made] right now,” said White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby.

In February 2021, Mr. Biden formally delisted the Houthis from the foreign terrorist organization list, reversing the last-minute decision by former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Biden announced the change as part of his effort to change the U.S. approach to the civil war in Yemen. That same month, Mr. Biden also announced that the U.S. would no longer support offensive operations in Yemen, where war had been raging since 2015.

Any group designated as a foreign terrorist organization has their U.S. assets frozen and are banned from doing business with American companies. It also makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to provide support or resources to the organization. 

Houthi militants have been targeting ships in the Red Sea, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. The movement has said it will target any ship that travels to Israel but does not stop at Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. Ships with no ties to Israel or do not travel there will be permitted to pass, the group said. 

In November, the Houthis hijacked a commercial vessel in the Red Sea and took 25 crew members hostage. 

 Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. announced the formation of a multinational naval coalition to protect shipping in the region.

Several companies, including oil giant BP, have announced they would be pausing shipments through the Red Sea as long as the Houthis remain a threat.

The attacks, which began in October, sparked calls from Republicans for Mr. Biden to re-designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization.

“Re-designating the Houthis as an FTO would send a powerful message that the United States views this group as a clear threat to our Allies and partners and to regional stability in the Middle East. Since Hamas’s savage terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, the Houthis have launched three attacks against the Jewish state and promised to carry out more strikes ‘until the Israeli aggression stops,’” Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, wrote in a letter last month to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.