WASHINGTON – The Biden government has lifted some of the terrorist sanctions that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed on Yemen’s Houthi rebels in his final days in office.
The Treasury Department said on Monday that it would exempt certain transactions involving Houthis from sanctions resulting from the group’s Pompeo designation as a “foreign terrorist organization” on January 10.
The exemption will expire on February 26, according to a statement from the Treasury Foreign Asset Control Office announcing a general license for transactions involving Iran-backed Houthis-owned entities.
The sanctions imposed by Pompeo came into force on January 19, the day before President Joe Biden took office, and were severely criticized by the United Nations and aid organizations. Critics said the sanctions would exacerbate what is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises by preventing aid from being delivered to civilians in the war-torn country.
The Treasury license does not reverse Pompeo’s designations and does not apply to specific members of the Houthi group who have been otherwise sanctioned.
The Trump administration’s designation has caused confusion among aid agencies and UN warnings, as well as senior Republicans, that it could have a devastating impact on a conflict-ravaged nation facing the risk of famine.
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Several aid groups pleaded with Biden to immediately revert the designation, with Oxfam America’s humanitarian policy leader Scott Paul saying, “Lives are at stake.”
Iran-backed Houthi rebels rule the capital and northern Yemen, where the majority of the population lives, forcing international aid groups to work with them. The agencies depend on the Houthis to deliver aid and pay Houthis salaries for that.
The suspension of the Biden government was announced on the same day that tens of thousands of Yemenis marched in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, in response to an appeal by the Houthis to condemn the US for labeling them a terrorist group and for supporting the military coalition led by the Saudi who is fighting this.
Six years of war between a United States-backed Arab coalition and the Houthi rebels have been catastrophic for Yemen, killing more than 112,000 people and reducing road and hospital infrastructure to ruined water and electricity networks.
It all started with the northern Houthi conquest in 2014, which led to a destructive air campaign by the Saudi-led coalition, with the aim of restoring the internationally recognized government.
Most of Yemen’s 30 million people depend on international aid to survive. The UN says 13.5 million Yemenis are already facing acute food insecurity, a figure that could rise to 16 million by June.
The U.S. designation movement was part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to isolate and paralyze Iran. It also showed support for a close US ally, Saudi Arabia, who leads the anti-Houthi coalition in the war.
Saudi Arabia defended the designation of terror, hoping it would put pressure on the rebels to reach a peace deal. Previous rounds of peace negotiations and ceasefire agreements have failed.
Reuters contributed to this report.