The State Department said Friday that it will review an eleven-hour decision by the Trump administration to label Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization.
The quick decision to launch a last-minute review of the then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
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“Ansarallah, sometimes known as the Houthis, bears significant responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe and insecurity in Yemen. We strongly believe that Ansarallah needs to change its behavior, “a State Department spokesman told The Hill.
“At the same time, we need to make sure that we do not prevent humanitarian assistance. As Secretary-General Blinken noted, the State Department has initiated a review of Ansarallah’s terrorist appointments, “the spokesman added. Anthony Blink
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Receiving Biden administration officials sounded the alarm about the appointment and indicated that the Trump-era movement could be reversed shortly after the inauguration.
Blinken, who the Biden administration hopes will be confirmed in the coming days, told senators during this week’s confirmation hearing that he would press for the appointment to be reviewed “immediately.”
He said that “his deep concern about the designation that has been made is that at least on the surface he seems to be doing nothing particularly practical in advancing efforts against houthis and bringing them back to the negotiating table, even making him more difficult than it already is to provide humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need of it ”.
A State Department spokesman told The Hill that “it will not publicly discuss or comment on internal deliberations regarding that review; however, with the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, we are working as fast as we can to conduct the review and make a decision. ”
The Yemeni civil war between Houthis, which has ties to Iran, and the government backed by Saudi Arabia – a key US ally – has plunged the country into one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. Thousands of civilians were killed in fighting and famine spread to all corners of the country.
Pompeo instituted the appointment at the exit of the office in a signal of US support for operations against houthis. However, health experts warned that the label could prevent the delivery of aid to civilians in Houthi-held areas by humanitarian groups that would reduce the reduction in aid to avoid losing sanctions.
Pompeo said in his announcement that the United States “intends to implement measures to reduce their impact on certain humanitarian activities and imports into Yemen.”
“We have expressed our willingness to work with relevant United Nations officials, international and non-governmental organizations and other international donors to address these implications,” he said, although criticism continued.
“This is happening at the most difficult time in which more than 16 million women, children and men in Yemen are living in severe food insecurity and it is getting worse,” said Michelle Nunn, CEO of CARE USA, an international non-governmental organization. focuses on combating global poverty and global hunger, The Hill said this week.
“This special name is tantamount to an order to stop and give up the humanitarian response in northern Yemen and its impact will lead to more despair and lost lives across the country.”
Blinken told senators on Tuesday that Biden intends to end US support for the Saudi offensive in Yemen, mainly in connection with humanitarian concerns.
“The president-elect has stated that we will end our support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen,” he said.
“But I want [to] clarifies, I think we need to be in close contact with Saudi Arabia, with our partner there. We need to be very clear about what we do, why we do something and talk about it, “he added.” But the main point is that, for the reasons we have discussed, we believe that continuing this support is not in the national interest. “