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The United States has officially designated the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, the Houthi rebels, officially known as Ansarallah, emerged in the 1990s as a Shia movement in northern Yemen, initially opposing government corruption and Saudi influence. They rose to power in 2014 after seizing Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and now control most of northern Yemen, including key Red Sea coastal areas. The group is heavily armed with Iranian-supplied missiles, drones, and advanced weaponry, often smuggled through Oman and the Red Sea. Over the last year, the Houthis have shot down US drones and attempted attacks on fighter jets.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, the State Department confirmed that it has officially designated the Houthi rebels as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), reinstating a classification that had been revoked under the Biden administration. This designation imposes stricter sanctions and criminal penalties on individuals or entities that provide material support to the Houthis, effectively cutting them off from international financial systems. The decision follows months of Houthi attacks on US military assets and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which the group claims are linked to Israel.
The Biden administration had previously labeled the Houthis as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” (SDGT) group, a classification that freezes assets and restricts financial transactions but does not carry the same level of criminal liability and international pressure as an FTO designation.
Biden’s approach to the Houthis shifted multiple times during his presidency. In February 2021—just a month after Biden took office—he rescinded the FTO designation imposed by Trump, citing concerns that it would block humanitarian aid to Yemen, which is experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Instead, his administration opted for targeted sanctions under the SDGT classification, which focused on individual Houthi leaders rather than the entire organization.
So what does this mean?: With the Houthis being designated as an FTO, it unlocks a wide range of counterterrorism tools that the US government can use to weaken and isolate the group. This includes tough financial sanctions, making it illegal for any US entity to provide material support and pressuring international banks and governments to cut off their funding. It also enhances intelligence operations, allowing for increased surveillance, cyber operations, and deeper coordination with allies to track and disrupt Houthi activities. Perhaps most significantly, the designation provides legal justification for covert and direct military actions, including airstrikes, special operations raids, and targeted assassinations of key Houthi leaders.
