The outgoing US administration is to designate Yemen's Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move in a statement late on Sunday. It will include sanctions against the movement and three of its leaders and will come into effect on Jan. 19, the Trump administration's last full day in office.
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Saudi Arabia, which has been attacked by Houthi-launched missiles and drones from Yemen, said the move would "neutralize" the threat posed by the Houthis by depriving them of arms and funds and would bring them back to the negotiating table.
A leader of the Iranian-aligned group, which has been battling a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen since 2015 in a war widely seen as a proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, said it reserved the right to respond.
