Following missile attacks on Israel by the Houthis of Yemen – also known as Ansarallah – and more intercepted by U.S. military units in the region in recent days, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced a bill last week to redesignate the group as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).
The Houthis are an Islamist organization derived from the Shia sect of Islam and the Houthi tribe from the northern reaches of the country. They have been fighting a civil war in Yemen since 2014, when they seized control of the capital and much of the north, and have largely held onto their gains in the face of a Saudi Arabian-led intervention force fighting on behalf of the internationally recognized government. Backed by Iran, they have centered Saudi Arabia as one of the major focuses of their ire, but since Israel invaded Palestine’s Gaza Strip last month, they also launched missiles at Israeli cities.
Many of those were intercepted by the U.S.S. Carney and Israeli defenses, but experts on both sides have viewed the assaults with trepidation, fearing a regional escalation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The Biden administration needs to send a strong, decisive message to the Iranian regime that the U.S. will not stand idly by and watch Iran’s proxies try and destroy Israel,” Daines said. “The unspeakable horrors that we have witnessed over the past several weeks have been at the hands of Iranian-backed terror groups. As the situation in Israel escalates and the Houthis insert themselves in the conflict, the U.S. must immediately redesignate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization and enforce sanctions that will help strengthen our national security and weaken terrorist organizations.”
While the Houthis were designated as an FTO on Jan. 19, 2021, by the Trump administration, upon assuming office the Biden administration revoked the decision. Now, the Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act would about-face again.
Supplementing this, Daines also joined a letter from U.S. Sen. William Hagerty (R-TN) written to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the same thing. Hagerty joined 12 other senators in supporting Daines’ bill as well.