2024-01-17 18:44:00
The US designated Yemen’s Houthis as terrorists and will impose sanctions on the group (Europa Press)
The United States announced this Wednesday that it will once once more consider Yemen’s Houthi rebels as terrorists and, therefore, will impose new sanctions on this pro-Iranian group. The measure will come into force in 30 days, that is, on February 16, and occurs in the midst of the militia’s offensives once morest commercial shipping companies that transit the Red Sea, in response to Israel’s aggressions on Gaza.
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“These attacks are a textbook definition of terrorism,” explained one of the US officials who added that, with this decision, the White House seeks to cease these hostilities that put international trade at risk and will even “consider” suspending it if it happens.
If not, over the next month, Washington authorities will focus on “designing” the implementation of the sanctions that imply the designation, which will be focused mainly on “cutting off financing” of the Houthis through the international financial system.
Biden ordered to cut off funding for the rebels, affecting the civilian population as little as possible (Europa Press)
However, from the White House they emphasized that President Joe Biden ordered that the group be classified as a “Specifically Designated Global Terrorist” (SDGT) instead of a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO in the language local) since the first implies milder consequences such as, for example, that those who provide “material support” to the rebels will not be harmed nor will travel bans be imposed.
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With this, the United States seeks to ensure that the civilian population is affected as little as possible and that the circuits with which the import of food – 90 percent in the country -, medicines and humanitarian aid are financed, are not affected. According to the UN, Yemen is experiencing the largest humanitarian crisis on the entire planet for years.
In the past, the rebel militia had already been included in these lists. During Donald Trump’s presidency, the president added the Houthis in both categories – SDGT and FTO – but, upon taking office, Biden rescinded the measure so as not to worsen the humanitarian situation there.
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However, recent events and the lack of positive response to warnings from the international community led the United States to move in this direction once more.
The United States announcement responds to continuous enemy aggression on shipping companies that transit the Red Sea (REUTERS)
For its part, the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which opposes the rebels, celebrated the announcement and maintained that to achieve peace in the country it is necessary for the group to stop “practicing terrorism” in all its forms.
“The decision is consistent with the Yemeni Government’s classification of this group as a terrorist organization under Yemeni law, and comes in response to the Government’s continued call for the international community to take serious measures to protect the Yemeni people from the oppression and terrorism of these terrorist militias,” the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“The Houthi militias must abandon their terrorist approach and dependence on the Iranian regime, renounce violence and accept peace initiatives, including the road map proposed by the brothers of Saudi Arabia, and all efforts to maintain security and stability of Yemen and the region,” they added.
At the same time as the designation, the United States and the United Kingdom – supported by a series of allied countries – began a bombing campaign days ago once morest the group’s military objectives since, as the National Security Advisor commented at the Davos Forum, of the White House, Jake Sullivan, enemy aggression will not stop unless there is a strong global response.
Sullivan referred to this conflict in Davos and called for a global response (Europa Press)
The United Nations mission in Yemen warned last Saturday that the actions of the West and the response of the rebels endanger the efforts made to achieve peace in the Arab country, following the parties in conflict agreed in December to take measures to a ceasefire.
(With information from EFE)
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