The US has indicated that it might reconsider its recent decision to label Yemen’s Houthis as terrorists if the Iran-backed militants halt their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea region. Tim Lenderking, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for Yemen, expressed hope for diplomatic solutions during a press briefing.
He emphasized the importance of finding ways to deescalate tensions, potentially leading to the withdrawal of the terrorist designation and the cessation of military strikes against Houthi targets. This shift towards diplomacy comes after several months of airstrikes against Houthi facilities, which have not effectively stopped their attacks on ships and warships. Despite claiming to have weakened the Houthis’ military capabilities, the US is now leaning towards diplomatic efforts to address the situation.
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US State Department announced that it was naming Ansarallah
Asked by Bloomberg News after the briefing if the US was offering the Houthis a quid to end their attacks on ships in return for revoking the designation, Lenderking said: “We would certainly study that but not assume it’s an automatic thing.”
In mid-January the US State Department announced that it was naming Ansarallah, who are commonly referred to as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Terrorist Group. That was just after the US and UK began their joint strikes in response to the attacks on shipping.
The Houthis, an Islamist organization, started targeting ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in mid-November, ostensibly to put pressure on Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza. Most Western shipping firms are now avoiding the waterways, which normally account for about 30% of global container traffic. Instead, they’re sending vessels around the southern tip of Africa, a much longer route for ships going between Asia and Europe.
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