U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the designation against the Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, saying it would make it harder for the organization to access financial markets and fund their operations.
"Over the past months, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in unprecedented attacks against the United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden," Sullivan said in a White House statement. "These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism.
"They have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardizing global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. The United States and the international community have been united in our response and in condemning these attacks in the strongest terms."
Sullivan noted that the designation will not take effect for 30 days to allow for "humanitarian carve outs" to reduce the impact on civilians in Yemen.
"The people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis," Sullivan said. "We are sending a clear message: Commercial shipments into Yemeni ports on which Yemeni people rely for food, medicine and fuel should continue and are not covered by our sanctions."
He added that if the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the United States "will immediately re-evaluate this designation."
The move comes a day after the United States military completed its third round of airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen in response to their attacks in the Red Sea since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. U.S. officials said its strikes targeted a building that contained ballistic missiles that posed a threat to U.S. forces and merchant ships.
The Houthis had previously been designated a foreign terrorist organization by former President Donald Trump's administration shortly before he left office on Jan. 10, 2021, saying that the group receives drones, missiles and training form Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
However, President Joe Biden's administration removed the designation within a month of taking office.
U.S. conducts fourth attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen
Washington DC (UPI) Jan 17, 2024 -
The United States late Wednesday launched its fourth attack in a week against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, striking more than a dozen missiles and launchers that U.S. officials said presented "an imminent threat" to vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
U.S. Central Command described the attack in a statement as the U.S. military exercising its "inherent right and obligation to defend" itself with 14 Houthi missiles ready to be fired at merchant and U.S. Navy vessels in the region.
The strike occurred at 11:59 p.m. local time, and came hours after Houthis attacked a U.S. shipping vessel in the Gulf of Aden with a one-way drone system amid rising fears of escalating war in the Middle East.
"These strikes, along with other actions we have taken, will degrade the Houthi's capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden," USCENTCOM said.
USCENTCOM earlier said a Houthi one-way drone attacked launched at about 8:30 p.m. from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen struck the U.S.-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy, a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, in the Gulf of Aden, resulting in damage to the bulk carrier but no injuries to its crew.
It is the second U.S. ship the Houthis have attacked in recent days, with the M/V Gibraltar Eagle hit on Monday.
"The actions by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists continue to endanger international mariners and disrupt the commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea and adjacent waterways," said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander, said in a late Wednesday statement.
"We will continue to take actions to protect the lives of innocent mariners and we will always protect our people."
A statement from the Houthis on the Genco Picardy attack called it a "victory for the oppression of the Palestinians and in support of the steadfastness of our brothers in [the] Gaza strip."
Following Israel launching its war against Hamas, another Iran proxy in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza on Oct. 7, Houthis vowed to attack Israel-bound vessels but have since seemingly widen their target to all ships transiting the important trade route.
The attacks were condemned by the U.N. Security Council earlier this month, and the United States earlier Wednesday redesignated the Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, as a terrorist organization.
The attacks have also resulted in a number of shipping companies to reroute their vessels around South Africa, adding an additional 10 days and costs to their journey.
The United States has also formed a coalition of more than 20 countries to protect vessels in the Red Sea.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that following their initial retaliatory attacks on the Houthis they expected the rebels to respond.
Kirby defended the U.S. and ally strikes on the Houthis as having had "a good effect" in "degrading their capability to conduct military offensive operations."
"We're not looking for a war," he said. "We're not looking to expand this. The Houthis have a choice to make, and they still have time to make the right choice, which is to stop these reckless attacks."
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