WASHINGTON — The United States under the new administration headed by President Joe Biden has decided to maintain sanctions on Iran-backed Houthi militia leaders as it removed the militant group from its list of terrorist organizations on Friday. In a press statement, the US Department of State said that the Houthi leaders Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, Abd Al-Khaliq Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya Al-Hakim remain sanctioned as they pose a threat to the peace, security, and stability of Yemen. "We will continue to closely monitor the activities of Ansarallah (Houthis) and its leaders and are actively identifying additional targets for designation, especially those responsible for explosive boat attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and UAV and missile attacks into Saudi Arabia," the statement read. The United States will also continue to support the implementation of UN sanctions imposed on members of Ansarallah ((Houthis) and will continue to call attention to the group's destabilizing activity and pressure the group to change its behavior, the statement added. Regarding the move to delist the Houthis from the terror list, the US State Department said: "This decision is in recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. We have listened to warnings from the United Nations, humanitarian groups, and bipartisan members of Congress, among others, that the designations could have a devastating impact on Yemenis' access to basic commodities like food and fuel." The statement added that the US remains clear-eyed about the Houthi militia's malign actions, and aggression, including taking control of large areas of Yemen by force, attacking US partners in the Gulf, kidnapping and torturing citizens of the United States and many of our allies, diverting humanitarian aid, brutally repressing Yemenis in areas they control, and the deadly attack on Dec. 30, 2020, in Aden against the Cabinet of the legitimate government of Yemen. "We remain committed to helping US partners in the Gulf defend themselves, including against threats arising from Yemen, many of which are carried out with the support of Iran. The United States will redouble its efforts, alongside the United Nations and others, to end the war itself. We reaffirm our strong belief that there is no military solution to this conflict," the US State Department noted in its statement. Commenting on the move, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted, saying: "Effective February 16, I am revoking the terrorist designations recently imposed on Ansarallah. We must deliver humanitarian assistance and commercial imports into Yemen. We remain focused on Ansarallah's malign activity and are identifying additional targets for designation."
