The US is set to redesignate Yemen's Houthi rebels as "global terrorists" after three years of delisting them as such.
According to several senior Biden administration officials, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would be expected to approve the move amid ongoing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed group, the BBC reported. He would be redesignating the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) after removing them from the list in 2021.
The action would mean that US financial institutions would be required to freeze Houthi funds and its members would be banned from entering the country.
The designation would come into force 30 days after Blinken's approval.
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In the waning days of the Trump administration, officials have imposed the SDGT and foreign terrorist organization (FTO) labels on the Houthis. The action was taken despite warnings from the UN and aid groups that it could push war-torn Yemen into a large-scale famine.
After current US President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the newly installed Blinken reversed the decision, citing the dire humanitarian situation in the country.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday's (January 17) announcement, senior White House officials defended the decision to reinstate the SDGT designation but not the FTO one, explaining that the status would still allow the continued flow of aid into Yemen.
"It was the correct step to revoke," one official said, arguing that it was a move taken in "recognition of a very dire humanitarian situation" in the country, as well as to ensure that "US policies weren't impeding" civilians' access to urgent aid.
Nevertheless, the officials accepted that the Houthis' campaign of attacks on commercial shipping has become "unacceptable."
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