UN envoy warns about US terror designation of Yemen's Ansarullah

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has warned about negative effects of the US designation of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement as a foreign terror organization over their retaliatory attacks on Israeli targets.

“While clarifications are sought regarding the upcoming US designation of Ansarullah as a foreign terrorist organization, it is important that our efforts to advance the peace process are protected,” Grundberg told the Security Council on Thursday.

Last month, US President Donald Trump re-designated Ansarullah as a "foreign terrorist organization," the White House said, following its attacks on Israeli-occupied territories, assaults on US Navy warships and Israel-linked vessels in the region, since the Gaza war in October 2023.

The decree relisting Yemen’s resistance movement as a terrorist organization directs the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to terminate its affiliations with organizations that have provided financial support to the group or resisted initiatives aimed at combating it.

Under the new directive, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is required to report to the president within 30 days, after consulting with the director of National Intelligence and the secretary of the Treasury, on the designation of Ansarullah in accordance with US law. Following this report, appropriate actions must be taken within 15 days.

Grundberg stressed that lasting peace in Yemen is “achievable," adding that the parties must engage in good faith and take the necessary steps to turn commitments into reality. 

“Only a political settlement of the conflict will support the Yemenis in their aspirations for lasting peace. It is achievable, it is possible, and it is pragmatic,” he emphasized.

Grundberg noted that a sustainable political resolution will help improve Yemen’s economic situation.

“These hardships are symptoms of the failure to achieve a sustainable political resolution. Without the prospect of peace, there can be no prosperity,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states, launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.

The objective was to crush Ansarullah, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen and reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The Saudi-led coalition failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war that killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

A UN-mediated ceasefire in Yemen broke down in October 2022, six months after it went into effect. Nevertheless, tensions have eased and casualties have decreased as important elements of the truce apparently remain in place.

Trump re-designates Yemen's Ansarullah as foreign terrorist organization

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Describing the situation in West Asia as “significant, albeit fragile” amid the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Grundberg said, “We have also seen a cessation of attacks by Ansarullah on vessels in the Red Sea and targets in Israel.”

He also hailed as positive the release by Ansarullah fighters of the crew members of the Galaxy Leader vessel, saying, “We must build on this opportunity as a foundation for further de-escalation."

After the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Yemeni forces carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.

Last month, Yemen's Supreme Political Council “announced the freeing of the crew of the Galaxy Leader, who were arrested on November 19, 2023." It said the move came “in support of the ceasefire" that took hold in Gaza on January 19.

The deal between Israel and Hamas was reached after 15 months of the regime's genocidal war on the strip, which claimed the lives of at least 48,239 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 111,676 others.

The regime was compelled to accept the ceasefire after falling short of realizing any of its wartime objectives, including freeing the captives, “eliminating” the Gazan resistance, and causing forced displacement of Gaza’s entire population to neighboring Egypt.

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