{"id":4305,"date":"2026-11-12T22:03:50","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4305"},"modified":"2026-11-12T22:03:50","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T17:03:50","slug":"saudi-arabia-puts-pressure-on-eu-to-label-yemens-houthis-a-terrorist-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4305","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia puts pressure on EU to label Yemen’s Houthis a terrorist group"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Saudi Arabia is pressing the EU to designate Yemen\u2019s Houthi movement as a terrorist organisation, \u200bbut has yet to overcome European concerns that this could undermine a future peace process, according to six European officials.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The campaign reflects \u200ca broader effort by Riyadh to increase international pressure on the group, which has been carrying out near-daily attacks on the kingdom in recent weeks after the resumption of war that began more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

The Houthis are already subject to EU sanctions, including an arms embargo and asset freezes on 12 commanders. The EU has designated Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), \u200ba key backer of the Houthis, as a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n

But the bloc has so far stopped short of designating the Houthis themselves as terrorists, a \u200bstep that has been taken by other Western countries including the United States, Australia and Canada.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has for over a \u2060decade led a military coalition fighting against the group on behalf of Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government, which the Houthis drove out of the capital Sanaa in 2014.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Few European countries support designation, officials say<\/h3>\n

European countries worry that listing the Houthis as a terrorist group would close off the limited channels they maintain with the group and potentially undermine any European involvement in \u200ba future peace process in Yemen, the six European officials said.<\/p>\n

Adding the Houthis to the terrorism designation list would require unanimous support of the EU\u2019s 27 member states. So far, support has been limited to only a small number of them, one of the six officials said, declining to identify the countries because the discussions were private.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s government communications office \u200bdid not respond to a request for comment. EU foreign policy spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said the bloc was in regular contact with Riyadh on a \u200brange of issues, including regional developments, but declined to comment on any specific discussions underway.<\/p>\n

In a move that is largely symbolic but which signalled support within Europe for a tougher stance against \u200cthe group, \u2060the European Parliament last month adopted a resolution calling for the EU to list the Houthis as a terrorist group.<\/p>\n

Joana de Deus Pereira, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence research group in London, said European states wanted to show solidarity with Saudi Arabia, but remained hesitant about listing the Houthis as a terrorist group, which she said would have limited practical impact.<\/p>\n

Among European concerns, de Deus Pereira said, were that the Houthis could retaliate for any listing by \u200btargeting European vessels near Yemen, and that \u200ba designation could complicate the work \u2060of aid groups operating in Houthi-controlled areas.<\/p>\n

Another potential reason why the EU may be cautious: several of the European officials noted that an EU terrorism designation is particularly difficult to reverse, as once imposed, it would require unanimous support of \u200bmembers to lift it.<\/p>\n

Yemen\u2019s coastline runs along the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at its mouth, a \u200bcritical waterway linking Europe \u2060and Asia. Any Houthi attacks there could further disrupt global trade, already reeling from Iran\u2019s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Civilians killed, injured in Houthi, Saudi attacks<\/h3>\n

Riyadh, with backing from the US, led a years-long disastrous military campaign against the Houthis before the Iran-backed group and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government \u2060agreed to \u200ba truce in 2022.<\/p>\n

That truce fell apart in July this year after the Houthis accused Riyadh \u200bof bombing Sanaa airport. Since then, both sides have carried out cross-border attacks that have killed and injured civilians.<\/p>\n

After a deadly Houthi missile strike on Riyadh\u2019s King Khalid Airport in October, the EU foreign \u200bpolicy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc stood in solidarity with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabia is pressing the EU to designate Yemen\u2019s Houthi movement as a terrorist organisation, \u200bbut has yet to overcome European concerns that this could undermine a future peace process, according to six European officials. The campaign reflects \u200ca broader effort by Riyadh to increase international pressure on the group, which has been carrying out near-daily attacks on the kingdom in recent weeks after the resumption of war that began more than a decade ago. The Houthis are already subject to EU sanctions, including an arms embargo and asset freezes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}