WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Sunday that he will designate Iranian Yemen-backed Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” as time runs out under the Trump administration. The appointment will take effect on January 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The announcement comes as Pompeo and his top advisers rush to complete the actions they believe will cement his legacy and that of the president. In addition to the Houthi designation, Pompeo, in the coming days, should also re-designate Cuba as a “terrorist sponsoring state”, according to several administration officials.
Both movements will impose or reimpose sanctions on targets and could complicate the Biden government’s diplomacy. On Saturday, Pompeo angered China by declaring that restrictions on U.S. diplomatic contacts with Taiwanese officials were null and void. In addition, Pompeo plans before leaving office on January 20 to establish explicit links between Iran and al Qaeda and target more Iranian entities with sanctions, officials said.
The authorities were not allowed to discuss the steps publicly because they have not yet been announced and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The government had been evaluating the formal designation of the Houthi rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization” for months. But that effort was mired in internal disagreements over whether sanctions could be applied effectively without aggravating the terrible humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The Treasury Department’s objections were apparently overcome last week after certain exemptions from sanctions that allow humanitarian aid to continue.
Late on Sunday, Pompeo announced that he was proceeding with the designation of the Houthis, also known as Ansarsallah, along with separate terrorist designations from three senior rebel leaders.
“These designations will provide additional tools to address the terrorist activity and terrorism of Ansarallah, a deadly Iranian-backed militia in the Gulf region,” he said. “The assignments are designed to hold Ansarallah accountable for its terrorist acts, including cross-border attacks that threaten civilian populations, infrastructure and commercial shipping. “
Consideration of the designation had already sparked complaints from relief organizations that warned that the sanctions could be catastrophic for efforts to help hungry Yemeni civilians who were caught in the conflict between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia.
“The United States recognizes the concern that these designations have an impact on the humanitarian situation in Yemen,” said Pompeo in his statement. “We are planning to implement measures to reduce its impact on certain humanitarian activities and imports into Yemen.”
These measures will include the issuance of special licenses by the Treasury to allow US assistance to continue to flow into Yemen and for humanitarian organizations to continue working there, he said.
President Donald Trump took a tough stance on Cuba and reversed many of the sanctions that the Obama administration had eased or lifted as part of a broader rapprochement with the communist island. Removing Cuba from the list of “terrorist sponsoring states” was a key component of that effort, and putting the country back on the list was a long-term goal for Pompeo.
Such a designation is legal and it was not clear on Sunday whether all the technical criteria necessary to restore Cuba to the list were met, according to the authorities. By removing Cuba from the list, the Obama administration determined that the country no longer supported international terrorism, but Pompeo must cite Cuban support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as the main justification for the change, officials said.
Pompeo is also expected to make comments later this week, denouncing Iran for its alleged shelter and support for members of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network. In November, American officials said Iran was hosting Al Qaeda’s second place, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, killed in August by Israeli agents in Iran along with his daughter, the widow of Bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden.
The Trump administration has steadily increased pressure on Iran since the president withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 and began again to impose sanctions that had been eased under the deal, which were aimed at containing the Iranian atomic program.
On Saturday, Pompeo announced that he was rescinding all restrictions on contacts between American diplomats and Taiwanese officials. These restrictions have existed since the United States formally adopted its “one China” policy in 1979 and recognized Beijing after abandoning formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Pompeo has been at the forefront of the government’s effort to persecute China for its actions in Taiwan, crackdowns on dissidents and human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and western Xinjiang, as well as the disputed maritime claims of Beijing on the South Sea of China.