A group of 17 bipartisan lawmakers is calling on the Biden administration to redesignate the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
The letter, spearheaded by Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Mike Waltz (F-Fla.), who are both veterans serving on the House Armed Services Committee, cited the escalation in attacks by the Iranian-backed terror group, including the drone and missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. ally where American soldiers are stationed.
Noting that the Houthis are diverting aid from the Yemeni people, the lawmakers urge that the United States “needs to remain committed to helping our partners in the Gulf defend themselves.”
The outgoing Trump administration added the Houthis to the U.S. State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations in January 2021.
The letter comes as Israel has raised significant concerns over the threat the Houthis pose to the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made his first official trip to Bahrain this week to underscore the shared threat Iran and its terror proxies pose to the Jewish state and its Arab allies. Hezbollah is present in Yemen and assisting the Houthis by giving them military knowledge and training while in turn learning lessons from the “Yemen war lab” that they can in future apply against Israel, a senior former defense official has told JNS.