Congress pushes Biden for Houthi terror designation

One of US president Joe Biden's first moves was to reject the Trump administration’s last-minute designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, after warnings from the United Nations and aid groups that imposing sanctions would exacerbate the famine in war-torn Yemen.

Now, the White House appears to be seriously considering the change, considers labeling the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, Specially Designated Global Terrorists, or a combination of both.

At a press conference on January 19, Biden said “We are taking a close look internally within the U.S. government to determine what would best serve our national security interests; what would best serve our desire to be a partner to Saudi Arabia, to the UAE, to other countries that are threatened by these Houthi attacks.”

Biden's statements about the possibility of re-designating the Houthis a "terrorist" group were welcomed by several lawmakers, namely Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who has been striving since last November to push the administration towards taking such a step.

Biden’s National Security Council circulated a memo exploring the possibility, as Biden is currently facing pressure from members of Congress pushing for the terror designation.

House Armed Services Committee Members Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Mike Waltz, R-Fla., are planning to send a letter to Biden pressing him on the matter, Politico reported last week.

The Iran-backed militia had been raining missiles, rockets and weaponized drones on mostly civilian targets in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, since 2015 when the Coalition was organized to restore Yemen's UN-recognized government that was ousted by the Houthis.

Several attempts by the United Nations to broker an end to hostilities have all been rejected by the Houthi leadership.

After repeatedly suffering battlefield defeats in the hands of government forces in Marib and adjacent governorates in central Yemen, the notorious militia stepped up its drone and missile attacks.

On January 17, missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed Houthis blew up several fuel tankers in Abu Dhabi, killing three people. On January 24 Houthi forces launched ballistic missiles on Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi .

Almost 2,000 Yemeni children, some as young as 10, recruited by the Iran-backed Houthis were killed in fighting between early 2020 and May 2021, the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen said.