Senate Republicans are moving on legislation that would redesignate the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization, citing the group’s weekend missile attacks on a U.S. warship as an alarming escalation, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
The legislation—led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and six Republican colleagues—will be introduced this week and will reapply all sanctions on the Houthis that were lifted in 2021 when the Biden administration took office and removed the Iran-sponsored rebel group from the U.S. terror list.
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, Iranian proxies in the region have escalated their operations, launching dozens of strikes on U.S. assets in the area. The Houthis are responsible for a spate of missile attacks on U.S. and Israeli positions during the past several weeks, including a weekend ballistic missile strike aimed at an American warship in the Gulf of Aden.
[After the attack on the US ship, the State Department and White House should have re-listed the Houthis immediately. We should also lift any and all restrictions on Saudi military aid that prevents Riyadh from targeting the Houthis. Both would reverse concessions made by Biden in his Iran-appeasement policies, a project that has only paid off in much more conflict and death. — Ed]
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