Biden Admin To Re-Designate Houthis As Terrorist Organization After Removing Them From List

President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to re-designate the Houthis, an Iranian-backed terrorist group based in Yemen, as an official terrorist group after it removed the group from the official list shortly after Biden took office.

The Associated Press reported that the announcement is expected to come as soon as Wednesday and comes after the terrorist group has launched dozens of attacks on merchant vessels over the last couple of months.

The U.S. recently started launching airstrikes against the terror group in response to their disruption of global trade in the Red Sea. Late last week, Biden called the group a terrorist organization.

“Nothing to update yet on the FTO designation,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday. “We’re still in the process of reviewing it.”

The U.S. launched airstrikes against the Houthis on Thursday in coordination with the United Kingdom, and with support from Australia, Canada, Netherlands, and Bahrain, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

“This multinational action targeted radar systems, air defense systems, and storage and launch sites for one way attack unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles,” the statement said. “These strikes have no association with and are separate from Operation Prosperity Guardian, a defensive coalition of over 20 countries operating in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden.”

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, U.S. Air Forces Central and Combined Forces Air Component Commander Ninth Air Force, said that U.S. forces “executed deliberate strikes on over 60 targets at 16 Iranian-backed Houthi militant locations, including command and control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems.”

Grynkewich said that more than 100 precision-guided munitions of various types were used in the strikes and that missiles were fired from submarines.