An F/A-18 Super Hornet launches from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in March 2024, as the ship worked to stem Iranian-backed Houthi militants trying to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea. The State Department has officially designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The State Department formally designated Houthi militants in Yemen as terrorists on Tuesday, fulfilling an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in January and reversing a Biden-era policy.
Former President Joe Biden had removed the Iranian-backed Houthis from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2021. The designation had limited the delivery of aid to Yemenis who had endured a yearslong civil war and famine, the Associated Press reported at the time.
But since 2023, U.S. forces and allies have been forced to fend off Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The group has launched hundreds of strikes against commercial and military vessels since shortly after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Those hostilities prompted the Trump administration to redesignate the militia group, also known as Ansarallah, as an FTO, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Tuesday.
The designation is meant to cut off financial resources to terrorist groups, while stigmatizing them and encouraging other nations to do the same, according to the State Department.
“The United States will not tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis in the name of practicing legitimate international business,” Rubio said in a statement.
The State Department also announced a reward of up to $15 million and possible relocation for information leading to the disruption of Houthi finances. Information on the reward is available at https://rewardsforjustice.net.
