- US declares Houthis as specially designated global terrorists
- The Iranian Foreign Minister has told leaders in Davos that attacks by the “axis of resistance” – a regional alliance led by Iran – against Israel and its interests would stop if the war in Gaza ends
Hossein Amirabdollahian said attacks by the “axis of resistance” – a regional alliance led by Iran – against Israel and its interests will stop if the war in Gaza ends.
The so-called axis of resistance includes Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
This is just as the Biden administration, under pressure from Congress, has re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, pushing back on calls to label the Iranian-backed military group as a broader, foreign terrorist organization.
The U.S. will designate the Houthis as a Specially Designated Terrorist Group (SDTG), in response to attacks the group launched against international commercial shipping in the Red Sea, and what the Houthis say is a response to Israel’s war against Hamas.
The SDTG label differs slightly from a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) label, a designation imposed by the Trump administration in the early days of 2021, but revoked by the Biden administration, over concerns that it would block humanitarian assistance to Yemen.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mr Amirabdollahian, warned that “everyone will be harmed” if Israel’s operations in Gaza do not stop immediately.
He also commented on this week’s Iranian attacks in Iraq and Pakistan.
Of the missile and drone strike in Pakistan, which killed two children, he says Iran had been targeting “terrorists” linked to Israel.
He also said Tehran had shared intelligence with Iraq about what it said were the activities of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Iran says it attacked Israel’s “spy headquarters” in Iraq on Monday, though Iraq has denied there was any such spy centre in the country.
Meanwhile, the US has put Yemen’s Houthis back on its list of specially designated global terrorists.
Officials want the designation to force the Houthis to turn away from Iran, which backs the rebel group, and to cut off their funding and weapons, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
If the Houthis cease attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the US will consider lifting the terrorist designation.
The move piles financial sanctions on top of American military strikes in the Biden administration’s latest attempt to stop the group’s attacks on global shipping.
Officials said the sanctions would be designed to limit harm to the 32 million people of Yemen, who are among the poorest in the world.
With reports from Sky News, The HILL