Biden administration to reverse sanctions on Houthis: Source
Weeks after the Trump administration announced new sanctions on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Biden White House is now moving to revoke them, a State Department official confirmed to ABC News.
The designation of the group, formally known as Ansar Allah, as a foreign terrorist organization on Jan. 11 was condemned by human rights groups and United Nations officials for hampering the delivery of international aid to the war-torn country on the brink of famine.
The official told ABC News that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has notified Congress of the intention to revoke the designation and "will share more details in the coming days."
"This decision has nothing to do with our view of the Houthis and their reprehensible conduct, including attacks against civilians and the kidnapping of American citizens. We are committed to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory against further such attacks," the State Department official said in a statement to ABC News. "Our action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis."
Individual Houthi leaders have been sanctioned over the years, but former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to designate the entire movement as a foreign terrorist organization essentially criminalized working with them, which aid groups say they have to do.
This is just the latest effort by the Biden administration to extricate the U.S. from the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. On Thursday, Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, announced that the U.S. would end "American support for offensive operations in Yemen."
Last week, Biden suspended two U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the coalition fighting the Houthis, that the Trump administration had green-lighted.
-ABC News' Conor Finnegan