UAE Wants US to Rebrand Houthis as Terrorists

Label posed threat to aid delivery

Following an attack by Yemen’s Houthis on the United Arab Emirates, Emirati officials are calling on the US, arguing that they need to re-label the Houthis as “terrorists.”

The Biden Administration removed the designation in February, both a reflection of the failing Yemen War, and because US humanitarian aid groups were afraid they would get punished for delivering food or medicine to Yemen.

Rebranding them brings those concerns back, and undercuts administration support for a diplomatic end to the war.

US officials dutifully condemned the attack on Abu Dhabi, but stopped short of accepting the demands from UAE diplomats. That no doubt is not the end of it, and this will be another complicating matter for the US trying to extricate itself from the conflict.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.