Blackburn, GOP senators seek terrorist redesignations for Houthis

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) recently joined several of her Republican colleagues in urging the U.S. State Department to redesignate Iranian-backed Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

“The Houthis should not be allowed to continually jeopardize the lives of American service members, our regional partners and allies, and innocent civilians, without our nation calling their actions what they truly are — terrorism,” wrote Sen. Blackburn and four other senators in a Dec. 12 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In their letter, the lawmakers pointed out that the Houthis in recent months have fired cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones against numerous targets, including toward U.S. naval assets in the Red Sea region and cities in Israel.

For instance, the Houthis on Dec. 3, 2023 attacked three commercial vessels in the Red Sea. On Nov. 19, 2023, the group seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Red Sea and took 25 of its crew members hostage, and on Oct. 27, 2023, the Houthis launched two armed drones that were downed near Egypt, including one that hit a building adjacent to a hospital, injuring six people, among other incidents, according to their letter.

“These actions clearly show the Houthis to be a destabilizing force in the region, and their behavior is becoming even more aggressive,” Sen. Blackburn and the Republicans wrote. “Moreover, we fully agree with CENTCOM’s assessment that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are enabled and backed by Iran.” 

The senators sent a similar letter to Secretary Blinken in May 2023 after the Biden administration removed the terror designation for the Houthis.