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On January 22, 2025, the White House released an order signed by newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump setting in motion a process by which Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement will be considered for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).[1]
A year before, on January 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced the designation of the Houthi movement as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, in response to Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and in support of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.[2]
The re-designation of the Houthis as an FTO was denounced by the Houthi Council of Ministers and senior officials.
"This Old-New Decision Does Not Serve Stability In The Region"
The Houthis' official website carried a summary of a meeting of the Council of Ministers[3] in which it responded to Trump's designation of the Houthis as an FTO. The Council condemned the U.S. president's decision to redesignate Ansar Allah as FTO, stressing that "the real terrorist is the United States of America, which has been participating with the Israeli enemy in killing children and women in Gaza for more than a year with advanced lethal weapons and political and media cover."
The Council stressed that such a move would only increase the resolve of the Yemeni people and their political forces, led by Ansar Allah, to defend "the right of the Republic of Yemen to liberation, independence, and sovereignty over its entire territory."
The website stated: "This old-new decision does not serve stability in the region and the peace efforts sponsored by the United Nations to achieve a just and honorable peace for the Yemeni people."
It also argued that the free world needed to condemn the decision, which was handed down against the backdrop of the "principled and honorable position of the Yemeni people to support the brethren in Gaza and all of Palestine."
Politburo Member Al-Bukhaiti: "Ansar Allah Is Not Looking For An Affidavit Of Innocence From America"
On January 23, Houthi Political Bureau member Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti shared a tweet on his X account by the U.S. State Department about the re-designation of the Houthi movement as an FTO. Al-Bukhaiti wrote: "Ansar Allah is not looking for an affidavit of innocence from America, which is the mother of terrorism, and therefore it is not qualified to designate others as such."
He continued: "This designation will not affect Ansar Allah's position to preserve the sovereignty and independence of Yemen and liberate every inch of its land, or to support the Palestinian cause. We will face the challenge with a challenge, and escalation with escalation," he stated.
In a subsequent tweet promoting the hashtag "America_Mother_Of_Terrorism," Al-Bukhaiti declared that the Houthis were not worried about America designating them as terrorists, noting that it rather "increases our reassurance of the justice and integrity of our cause, because pleasing Allah must necessarily conflict with pleasing it [U.S.]."
He further argued that the issuance of such designation by President Trump "in particular," drops the last card in the hands of the "mercenary" Republic of Yemen Government to question the credibility of the Houthi movement's "just and steadfast positions."[4]
Shura Council Member Jahhaf: "What Greater Honor Than The One You Just Earned"
Houthi Shura Council member Abd Al-Salam Jahhaf wrote on his X account, boasting about the U.S. new designation of Houthis as FTO: "What greater honor than the one you just earned, O Ansar Allah? Congratulations to you. You are the primary enemy of America, mother of terrorism."[5]
Campaign On X Under Hashtag: #USMotherOfTerrorism
The Houthi Telegram channel, "Yemeni War Media," shared a poster titled, "America, Mother Of Terrorism," arguing that U.S. participation in the war on Gaza had exposed its values, and today "all call for its demise."
The channel also launched a campaign of tweets on X, under the hashtag #USMotherOfTerrorism, which started at 9:00 p.m. Sanaa time [1:00 p.m. EST]. It shared a Web link and a QR code to the "bank of tweets."[6]
[1] Whitehouse.gov/January 22, 2025.
[2] State.gov/terrorist-designation-of-the-houthis/, January 17, 2024.
[3] January 23, 2025.
[4] X, January 23, 2025.
[5] X, January 23, 2025.
[6] Telegram, January 23, 2025.
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