WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department on Tuesday said it was implementing the designation of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organization” after President Donald Trump’s call for the move earlier this year.
“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,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“The United States will not tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis in the name of practicing legitimate international business,” he added.
The move, however, triggered concerns it could impact regional security and worsen Yemen’s humanitarian crisis because importers fear being hit with U.S. sanctions if supplies fall into Houthi hands.
“A designation like this must be coupled with appropriate safeguards and reassurances, both humanitarian assistance and the ability of civilians to commercially access central goods and services,” said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
“For humanitarian goods a lot of it comes in through the private sector. If this is not possible, it will have a devastating humanitarian impact,” added Dujarric, pointing out that some 19 million Yemenis require life-saving assistance.
Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer with the BIMCO shipping association, warned that the designation “has the potential to deteriorate the security situation.”
A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday’s action implements the January decision to re-designate the Houthis.
In January, Trump re-designated the Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, aiming to impose harsher economic penalties in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against U.S. warships defending the critical maritime area.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have staged more than 100 such attacks since November 2023, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.
They also targeted Israel with missile and drone strikes.
In January, the Houthis’ leader said the militants would monitor implementation of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and resume strikes on commercial vessels or Israel if the deal was breached.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
Larsen said those traffic patterns “are largely unchanged” and that given the Gaza ceasefire’s uncertain future and the potential for U.S. or Israeli strikes on the Houthis “the security threat is increasing.”
At the start of his term in 2021, former President Joe Biden dropped Trump’s terrorist designations to address the humanitarian concerns in Yemen.
Confronted with the Red Sea attacks, Biden last year designated the group as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” organization. But his administration held off on applying the harsher FTO designation.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, Jonathan Saul, Michelle Nichols, Katharine Jackson, Susan Heavey and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Ros Russell and Daniel Wallis)
