Great Satan US officially classified Yemen’s Ansarullah group as a ‘foreign terrorist organization’
The United States Department of State has officially classified Yemen's Ansarullah movement as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)," effectively delivering on one of President Donald Trump's inaugural commitments made when he assumed office in January.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the reinstatement of an official designation regarding Ansarullah, highlighting the group’s activities as a significant threat to the security of American citizens and personnel in West Asia. He emphasized that these actions also jeopardize the safety of the United States’ key regional allies and the stability of global maritime commerce.
A U.S. official has declared that Washington “will not tolerate any nation engaging with terrorist organizations,” such as Ansarullah, under the guise of conducting legitimate international business.
On Tuesday, the US State Department invoked Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, to take new action. The Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designations will become effective once they are published in the Federal Register.
In January, former President Donald Trump formally classified Ansarullah as a terrorist organization. This move signaled a potential strategy to leverage regional proxies against Yemen in a bid to compel the Yemeni populace to withdraw their backing for Gaza.
The recent designation was issued following a series of military operations conducted by the Yemeni army targeting Israeli-occupied territories, as well as attacks on US Navy vessels and ships associated with Israel in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, commencing in November 2023. These actions were undertaken in solidarity with Palestinians, amid escalating fatalities attributed to Israeli actions in Gaza.
At the time, Ansarullah criticized the United States’ decision to designate the resistance group as a terrorist organization, asserting that being aligned with the U.S. would have represented a greater risk than terrorism itself.
The statement characterized the United States’ designation as a misdirected initiative, underscoring the enduring resilience of the Yemeni population.
