World News

The US said it would consider revoking its recent designation of Yemen’s Houthis

So what exactly is the significance of Ansar Allah not being a designated terrorist?

Asked by Bloomberg News after the briefing if the US was offering the Houthis a quid pro quo to end their attacks on ships in return for revoking the designation, Lenderking said: “We would certainly study that but not assume it’s an automatic thing.”

So it's not even an actual Quid Pro Quo. They will simply consider it.

Lenderking said deescalation by the Houthis could help restart United Nations-mediated peace talks in Yemen which have been frozen since Oct. 7. The country’s been mired in a civil war for a decade, though there’s been a fragile truce since 2022. The Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 at the start of the war and now control the key Red Sea port of Hodeida. Saudi Arabia, which initially tried to dislodge the Houthis, wants to implement a ceasefire deal it reached with the group last year.

Consider Ansar Allah's position, they probably shouldn't pursue deescalation and should focus on displacing the shell of the "official" yemeni government that still remains. A frozen civil war sounds like an unstable situation.