On 15 February, an Israeli official disclosed to The Times of Israel that the UAE has solicited Tel Aviv to lobby Washington to re-list Yemen’s Ansarallah resistance movement as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

Another unnamed Israeli source also disclosed that, while the US National Security Council supports the idea of re-designating Ansarallah as a terrorist organization, others in the Biden administration are more reluctant to accept the move.

According to the report, the move is seen by Tel Aviv as necessary to curb the regional influence of Iran.

“We’re not doing this only for the Emiratis. We believe such a step is in everyone’s interest,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Before leaving office, former US President Donald Trump added Ansarallah to the State Department’s list of FTOs.

However, the Biden administration has yet to renew the decision, as early last year the State Department revoked Trump’s decision, which subjected Yemen to economic sanctions.

On 16 February 2021, the State Department announced in an official statement the revocation of the decision to designate Ansarallah as a FTO under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The decision allegedly came in “recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.”

However, on 20 January, Biden reconsidered adding the Yemeni resistance group to the terrorist designation list following the attacks on the UAE during Operation Hurricane Yemen, the first of a series of attacks that began on 17 January.

Since 2015, Yemen has been mired in a brutal war after a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia invaded the country hoping to restore to power the western-friendly administration of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The ensuing conflict has pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions more displaced.