Blinken will remove Houthis from the list of foreign terrorist organizations in effect next week

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The move ends an eleventh-hour decision by the Trump administration that faced backlash from bipartisan politicians and humanitarian organizations. The latter group warned that the designation could jeopardize their ability to provide vital aid to the people of Yemen, on which about 80% depend on it.

Blinken said in his statement that the decision to drop the group’s FTO designation and the Specially Designated Global Terrorist Designation was prompted by those concerns, calling it “a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.”

“We have listened to warnings from the United Nations, humanitarian groups and bipartisan Congress, among others, that the designations could have a devastating impact on Yemenis access to basic goods such as food and fuel,” he said Friday. “The withdrawals are to ensure that relevant US policies do not impede aid to those already suffering from what has been termed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. By focusing on alleviating the humanitarian situation in Yemen, we hope that the Yemeni parties can also focus on dialogue. “

Blinken’s announcement comes after the Houthis committed a number of attacks on civilian targets in Saudi Arabia, which were condemned by the State Department this week.

The US top diplomat noted in his statement that Houthi leaders Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim remain under sanctions.

“ The United States remains clear about Ansarallah’s evil actions and aggression, including the forcible takeover of large areas of Yemen, attacking US partners in the Gulf, kidnapping and torturing citizens of the United States and many of our allies, diverting humanitarian aid. aid, brutally suppressing Yemenis in areas they control, and the deadly attack on December 30, 2020 in Aden against the cabinet of the legitimate government of Yemen, ”he said, using a different name for the Houthis.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war that has spanned a coalition of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, a Shia political and military organization from northern Yemen. The conflict has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis.

President Joe Biden announced last week that the US will end its support for Saudi-backed offensive operations in the war in Yemen, but made it clear that it would continue to support the Kingdom. Blinken echoed this sentiment in his statement on Friday. The Biden administration’s special envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, was in Riyadh this week to meet with Saudi and Yemeni officials and with UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.

“The United States will redouble its efforts, along with the United Nations and others, to end the war itself. We reaffirm our strong belief that there is no military solution to this conflict,” Blinken said Friday. “We urge all sides to work towards a lasting political solution, which is the only way to end the humanitarian crisis that is plaguing the people of Yemen in a lasting way.”

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