Houthis consider the designation of terrorists by the United States an “honor”

The spokesman for the Houthi rebel movement, Mohamed Abdelsalam, considered a “honor” that his group has been designated today as “terrorist” by USA and stated that this will not change “the position of Yemen in support of Palestine.”

“The US designation is worthless and this will not change Yemen’s position in support of Palestine. “But we consider it as a medal of honor for supporting the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, while the United States exercises its aggression against Yemen,” indicated on his official X account (formerly Twitter).

He pointed out that they are “arrogant policies” of USA and his “support for the Zionist criminal entity”, In reference to Israel, “true sponsors of terrorism.”

On the other hand, Mohamed al Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, pointed out in his X account that this decision “It doesn’t contribute anything new.”

“This is in addition to the fact that Ansar Allah (Houthis) enjoys great popular support these days that is unparalleled at the local, Arab, Islamic and international levels,” tosigned.

Furthermore, this decision “It will undermine the credibility of the US administration before the people of the world because the terrorist is the one who supports and protects the authors of the genocide and not the one who fights to stop it,” he asserted.

Al Bukhaiti concluded by saying that the Houthis are “Warriors”but also of peace, which is why he urged the United States and the United Kingdom to “stop the crimes of genocide in Gaza and end their aggression against Yemen.”

If they do, they will stop “all” its military operations “immediately and automatically.”

“The ball is in their court and they can call us whatever they want”he settled.

The designation of the Houthi rebels as “terrorists” by the US comes days after the United States and the United Kingdom began a bombing campaign against the group’s military targets in Yemen due to insurgent attacks on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea and the Bab al Mandeb Strait, which have seriously affected international maritime trade.

The designation will take effect 30 days from now, on February 16, although in a call with journalists, US officials assured that the US. “will consider” suspend it if the Houthis stop their attacks in the Red Sea.

In the 30 days until the measure comes into effect, the United States also intends “design” the implementation of the sanctions that the designation entails so that they affect the civilian population to the least possible extent.

In fact, the Joe Biden Administration has chosen to classify the Houthi group as “Specifically Designated Global Terrorist” (SDGT) instead of including it in the list of “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO, in English) because the sanctions it carries are lighter.

For example, the SDGT designation does not imply sanctions for those who provide “material support” to the Houthis and does not provide for travel bans, as being included on the FTO list does.

Yemen, at war since the end of 2014 between the Houthis and the internationally recognized Yemeni government, is suffering one of the largest humanitarian catastrophes on the planet, according to the UN.