"Biden's Yemen Strikes: Sending a Message to Iran and Labeling Houthi as a 'Terrorist Organization'"

The United States President, Joe Biden, confirmed that he sent a message to Iran through Thursday's airstrikes in Yemen targeting the Houthi rebels. In his recent statements, he tagged the Houthis as a terrorist organization in contrast to his administration's earlier decision in 2021 to remove this label. Last Friday, President Biden indicated that he had relayed a message to Iran. This came about during a related conversation while on tour in a cafeteria in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He made clear his position against any unacceptable actions. Additionally, if the Houthi's unacceptable behavior continues, a response will be ensured in tandem with allied forces, he further stated. Strikes against multiple Houthi targets in areas of Yemen under the group's control were carried out by the US and the United Kingdom last Thursday. This action came as a significant response to the Biden administration along with their allies advocating for the Iran-sponsored militant group to bear the repercussions of their attacks on commercial seafaring in the Red Sea. US and coalition forces attacked at least 60 objectives using over 150 precision-guided ammunitions at 28 Houthi militant locations supported by Iran, as informed by military officials. Houthi targets included command and control nodes, ammunition, storage facilities, launch systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems. The attacks that received criticism from several Middle Eastern leaders resulted in five fatalities and six injuries, according to the military spokesperson for the rebels, Yahya Sare'e. He added that these attacks would not deter the Houthis from conducting further attacks against sea transportation. The Houthis, an Iran-backed Shi'a political and military organization, are engaged in a civil war in Yemen against a Saudi Arabia-supported coalition. For weeks, they've been launching drones and missiles at commercial ships in the Red Sea, many of which have been intercepted and taken down by US Navy vessels in the area. While addressing queries related to a possible proxy war with Iran, Biden negated such a scenario, stating that Iran does not want to go to war. He agreed with the tagging of the Houthis as a “terror group”, a designation his administration had previously suspended, but they are considering reinstating it. In 2021, the Biden government reversed the last-minute decision by the Trump administration to label the Yemeni Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization. Recently, on the same day, the White House reiterated that it was reconsidering the terrorist designation for the Houthis. John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, reported that no decisions had been made and couldn't provide a timeline for how long the review would take. The Houthis maintain that their bombings are a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian people following Israel's relentless military campaign in Gaza after Hamas' terrorist attacks on October 7. The group asserts that they will only yield when Israel allows food and medicine to enter Gaza. Their attacks may be aimed at causing economic pain to Israel's allies in the hope of pressurizing them to halt their military offensive. At the heart of Yemen, a years-long dispute between the Houthi forces and the Saudi Arabia-backed coalition has plunged the population into a devastating humanitarian crisis marked by starvation, economic turmoil, and extreme poverty. The Houthi forces took over the capital, Sana'a, in 2014, overthrew the globally recognized Saudi-backed government, triggering a civil war. The dispute escalated into a broader war in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition intervened trying to push back the Houthis. The conflict has resulted in up to 377,000 fatalities as reported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2021. Over half of these individuals died due to indirect conflict-related causes such as lack of food, water, and medical care.