US Renews-Sanctions on Houthis; Offers $15 Million for Information on Finances
“Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” Rubio said.
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) - The State Department announced on Tuesday that it was restoring the designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO.)
The U.S. originally applied that designation to the Houthis in January 2021, at the end of the first Trump administration. But after Joe Biden took office, the designation was cancelled.
The move by the Biden administration was, in part, an aspect of its overture toward Iran, as it sought to restore the Obama-era nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the Trump administration had left.
But the Biden administration also sought by removing the FTO designation to facilitate humanitarian aid supplies to Yemen, a very poor country, whose poverty has been made worse by a civil war going back to 2014.
In announcing the re-designation of the Houthis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement explaining that the State Department was “fulfilling one of President Trump’s first promises upon taking office”—to restore the maximum pressure campaign of his first term in office.
In that executive order, one of the first of his new term, Trump directed that “Iran’s terrorist network should be neutralized.” The Houthis, along with Hizbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and certain groups in Iraq, are seen by the Trump administration as elements in that network.
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, brutal cross-border assault into Israel, the Houthis have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea. In addition, they have kidnapped dozens of U.N. staffers, including those administering aid programs. That led the U.N. to announce last month that it was suspending its humanitarian work in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Thus, as Rubio explained, “Since 2023, the Houthis have launched hundreds of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as U.S. service members defending freedom of navigation and our regional partners.”
“Most recently,” he added, “the Houthis spared Chinese-flagged ships while targeting American and allied vessels.”
“The United States will not tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis in the name of practicing legitimate international business,” he affirmed, concluding, “Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities.”
Coordination with Arab Allies
The U.S. action appears to be coordinated with its Arab allies. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition that supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Saudi Arabia has not made any public statement on the U.S. designation, but presumably the position of the Trump administration is far more welcome in Riyadh than was that of the Biden administration.
Indeed, the Trump administration is coordinating more broadly with the Saudi government, whose Defense Minister just visited Washington.
That coordination includes Oman. Rubio spoke on Monday with his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi.
Their discussion involved a range of issues, including the war in Gaza, as well as developments in Syria, and Lebanon, as State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce explained.
“The Secretary also discussed the importance of permanently ending unlawful Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways,” she added, while “the Secretary expressed his thanks for Oman’s critical and timely facilitation of the release of the MV Galaxy Leader crew, whom the Houthis had illegally detained for more than a year.”
The Houthis seized the Bahamian-flagged cargo ship in November 2023, as it was sailing from Turkey to India and took its 25 crew members hostage. They were released in January, as a result of Omani mediation.
$15 Million Reward for Information on Financing of Houthis
The State Department maintains a Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which offers large rewards to individuals who provide important information that allows the U.S. to better fight terrorism.
On Tuesday, in conjunction with the Department’s re-designation of the Houthis as an FTO, the RFJ Program announced that it was offering a reward “of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms” of the Houthis.
“Since seizing most Yemeni population centers from the Yemeni government in 2014-2015, the Houthis have launched multiple attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, conducted a January 2022 attack on the United Arab Emirates, and fired hundreds of missiles at Israel since November 2023,” it said.
“The Houthis have also conducted more than 100 attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Bab al-Mandeb, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden,” the RFJ statement continued, "killing civilian sailors and forcing some Red Sea maritime commercial traffic to reroute.”
