SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The United Nations warned on Monday that a U.S. plan to designate Yemen’s Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization is “likely to have serious humanitarian and political repercussions.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it was imperative that the United States “swiftly grant the necessary licenses and exemptions to ensure that principled humanitarian assistance can continue to reach all people … without disruption.”
He also said the United Nations was “concerned that the designation may have a detrimental impact on efforts to resume the political process in Yemen, as well as to polarize even more the positions of the parties to the conflict.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move, which will include sanctions against the movement and three of its leaders, in a statement late on Sunday, hours after Reuters reported it. It will come into effect on Jan. 19, the Trump administration’s last day in office.
The U.S. administration has been piling on sanctions related to Iran in recent weeks, suggesting to some that Republican President Donald Trump wants to make it harder for Democrat Joe Biden’s administration to re-engage with Iran and rejoin an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme after he becomes president on Jan. 20.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government called for more further pressure on the Houthis, who seized the capital Sanaa in late 2014 and control much of northern Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, which has been attacked by missiles and drones launched from Yemen by the Houthis, said the designation would “neutralise” the Houthi threat by preventing it securing arms and funds.
“It … will force the leaders of the Houthi militia backed by Iran to seriously return to the negotiating table,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
(Esta Media Network/Reuters)
