WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department on Tuesday said it was implementing the designation of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organization” after U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the move earlier this year.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “the Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade.”
“The United States will not tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis in the name of practising legitimate international business,” he added.
In January, Trump redesignated the Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization in a change that will impose harsher economic penalties in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against U.S. warships defending the critical maritime area.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Susan Heavey and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Ros Russell)
