The US State Department on Thursday called on Iran-backed Houthi rebels to release Yemeni US Embassy staff the fighters detained in the northern city of Sanaa after breaching the compound in the war-ravaged country, The Washington Post and other media outlets reported. State Department officials told the Washington Free Beacon that "the majority of the detained have been released, but the Houthis continue to detain additional Yemeni employees of the embassy." Houthi fighters reportedly took the compound on Wednesday, demanding "large quantities of equipment and materials," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. Yemen has been embroiled in a brutal civil war between the Houthi rebels — who are backed, financed, and armed by the Iranian government —and the standing Yemeni government, which has the support of the international community. Within a month of taking office, President Joe Biden removed the foreign-terrorist organization designation placed on the Houthis by the Trump administration. The designation had cut the Houthis "off from financial support and other material resources that are routed through US banks or other American institutions." Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the decision "a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen." Officials at the State Department have pledged to continue their "diplomatic efforts to secure the release of our staff and the vacating of our compound, including through our international partners." A State Department spokesperson in an emailed statement also called on the Houthis to "immediately vacate" the complex and "return all seized property." Most of those detained, who worked outside of the compound on duties including security, had been released, the spokesperson said. "We are concerned that Yemeni staff of the US Embassy in Sanaa continue to be detained without explanation and we call for their immediate release." State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a briefing when reports of the embassy workers' detention emerged on Tuesday that US officials had been "unceasing in our behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to secure their release." The US suspended embassy operations in Yemen in February 2015, some five months after the start of the country's ongoing civil war between Houthi forces and an international coalition that supports President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, as the rebels seized control of Sanaa. — Agencies
