It seems that the Trump administration is seeking to increase pressure on Iran before the end of its term.
According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the move to declare Houthis as a terrorist organization will give the United States "additional tools" to counter security threats in the Persian Gulf. Iran is the main patron of the group in the Yemeni civil war, and they have been blamed for several missile strikes and other attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Since 2014, the Houthis have been fighting the UN-recognized government of Yemen.
On Monday, they said they "have the right to respond to any instructions coming from the Trump administration or any other administration."
According to Yemen, classifying the group as terrorists will increase pressure on them and help end "a miserable, long-running conflict."
Last month, a fuel tanker was hit by an explosion near the Saudi port of Jeddah. Although the kingdom did not blame the Houthis, it described the incident as a "terrorist act."
Three weeks before that, another ship had been damaged at a Saudi terminal. At the same time, the group claimed responsibility for the missile attack on a fuel depot in Jeddah owned by Saudi Aramco.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi also accused the group of the attack in the Aden airport on December 30, which, according to the US, killed 27 people.
The Houthis regularly attacked Saudi oil facilities. In May 2019, they said they were responsible for an attack on Saudi Arabia's main oil pipeline. A few months later, they also attacked the refinery at Abqaiq.
The latest incident, during which armed drones temporarily disabled about half of Saudi Arabia's oil companies, has led to a sharp rise in oil prices. The UN said the drones were likely of Iranian origin.
In recent months, the Trump administration has tightened sanctions on Iran in an attempt to weaken its economy and force it to stop interfering in Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
But the new fines will make it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to renew the nuclear deal with the country, which Trump abandoned in 2018.
The tensions also affected US allies. Just last week, Iran hijacked a South Korean-flagged oil tanker. Tehran said about $ 7 billion oil sales remained in South Korea due to Washington's sanctions, and it needs it to pay for goods, including coronavirus vaccines.
South Korea's deputy foreign minister is in Tehran this week to try to free the ship and discuss funding.
Pompeo said the US would declare the Houthis a terrorist organization on January 19. Three of its leaders, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Abd al-Khaliq Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, will be classified as global terrorists.
Pompeo added that humanitarian efforts to help victims of the war in Yemen may be hampered, but Washington will take steps to counter this.
