The US labelling Houthis as terrorists will only inflame tensions
The US is expected to announce plans to designate the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as global terrorists after its attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea, and experts believe the UK may follow suit.
Such a move could âincrease tensions between the UK and Iranâ, as Tehran is showing increasing aggression in the Middle East, warned Christian Kaunert, professor of international security at Dublin City University.
Iran â which backs militant groups in the region including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen â launched a deadly attack in Pakistan on Tuesday, a day after missile strikes in Iraq and Syria.
A Houthi spokesman said on Wednesday that a US designation of the groups as terrorists would not affect their operations to prevent Israeli ships or ships heading to Israel from crossing the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Bab al-Mandab Strait.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organisation and as specially designated global terrorists in February 2021 as US President Joe Bidenâs administration sought to make it easier to get food imports and humanitarian aid into war-torn Yemen, where millions rely on direct help from NGOs.
The expected reversal of that decision could have âmajor implicationsâ for the UK as it is likely to follow in Americaâs footsteps, says Professor Kaunert.
The professor, who is also director of the International Centre for Policing and Security at the University of South Wales, said the EU may also decide to proscribe the Houthis, who have been targeting shipment in the Red Sea for the past two months in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
While the US terrorist designation does not mean sanctions on those who provide âmaterial supportâ to the group, aid groups are concerned it could aggravate what the United Nations has described as the worldâs worst humanitarian crisis.
Supporters of broad sanctions argue that it is possible to shape any enforcement mechanisms to exempt food and humanitarian aid, but aid organisations worry that fears of running afoul of US regulation could scare away shippers, banks and other players vital to Yemenâs commercial food supply.
Yemen imports 90 per cent of its food.
Jonathan Hall KC, the UKâs Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, told i the British Governmentâs main consideration when deciding on whether to proscribe Houthis as a terrorist group would be âwhat effect that would have on the delivery of humanitarian aid if proscribed under the Terrorism Actâ.
While the Houthis âcertainly qualify as undoubtedly concerned with terrorismâ, he said, the key issue to consider is âthe need not to stifle the ability of aid agencies and the whole financial and logistical structure involvedâ.
Mr Hall added: âAttention needs to be given to carving out a practical humanitarian exception that applies to the Terrorism Act.â
Yemen, on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula bordering the Red Sea, is the poorest country in the Arab world. War and chronic misgovernment have left 24 million Yemenis at risk of hunger and disease as of 2023, and roughly 14 million in acute need of assistance, the United Nations says.
About two-thirds of Yemenis live in territory controlled by the Houthis.
Dr Julia Roknifard, an assistant professor in Iranian and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, told i that proscribing the Houthis as a terrorist group would do more harm to Yemeni civilians, for whom humanitarian aid is a âlifelineâ.
âThe motion would rather mean a collective punishment for the people of Yemen instead of actually deterring the Houthis from continuing with their agenda in the region,â she said.
âThat agenda still includes expelling the extra-regional actors, like the US or the UK, from the Middle East and standing against Israelâs incursion into Gaza, if to speak of more immediate goals.
âFacilitating a ceasefire and negotiations on the future of Palestine would be a more reasonable move than the attempt to quash all those who disagree with the unequivocal support for Israel by the extra-regional powers.â
Dr Roknifard said proscribing the Houthis would also âstall any peace negotiations between Yemen and the Saudi-led coalitionâ.
None of the experts thought it would have any effect on their attacks in the Red Sea.
Additional reporting by agencies