Early on the morning of July 19, an Iranian-made drone fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen exploded down the street from a branch of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, killing one person. That attack reopened the debate in Washington over how the State Department should classify the Iranian-backed militant group.
Several lawmakers demanded that the State Department re-designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terror Organization — a formal category that would make it easier for the U.S. to target and sanction them. Former President Donald Trump added the Houthis to the FTO list. President Joe Biden revoked that designation shortly after taking office, arguing that the FTO designation made it harder for humanitarian aid to reach Yemenis in need.
In January, the Biden administration moved a little on the issue and started calling the Houthis a Specially Designated Terrorist Group — a notch below the FTO designation.
According to the White House, the new designation was a means to preserve flexibility in providing humanitarian assistance to Yemen. The administration’s wordplay did not sit well, particularly with those who are subjected to Houthi terror attacks. And the Houthi attacks continue.
In April, the House passed bipartisan legislation to redesignate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. Similar legislation has been proposed but has not advanced in the Senate, and it isn’t clear when a review might be scheduled. In the meantime, pressure continues mounting on the State Department, which had the issue under continuing review.
On Sept 17 the State Department responded. Bottom line: No change.
The letter on the issue from Naz Durakoğlu, an assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, mouthed many of the right words about how “the Houthis must be held accountable for their actions in the Red Sea and beyond,” but fretted about how an FTO designation had the potential of “harming and alienating Yemeni civilians” through a possible cutoff of humanitarian support. According to Durakoğlu, the SDGT designation of the Houthis is the right thing to do since it “advances these Biden-Harris Administration priorities.”
We are puzzled. Is there anyone who really believes that the Iranian-backed Houthis are not a foreign terror organization? Is there anything more the Houthis need to do to prove who they are? And what is the meaning of Durakoğlu’s promise that the administration “will continue to monitor the Houthis’ destabilizing activity against peaceful maritime trade and continue to consider additional designations as appropriate in the future”?
Why the games? The Houthis check all the boxes of an FTO under State Department rules. And an FTO designation with appropriate sanctions is the right remedy for what the Houthis are.
It should be a crime to provide “material support of resources” to the Houthis. Banks, insurers and other companies should be required to cut all ties with them. Houthis should not be admitted to the United States. And victims of Houthi attacks and their survivors should be free to file civil lawsuits against the Houthis and entities that support them. None of those things apply to an SGDT.
Which leads us to our last question: What priorities of the Biden-Harris administration are being advanced by its refusal to recognize the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization?
