ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US President Donald Trump on Wednesday re-designated Yemen’s Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization”, the White House said. 

"Supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), which arms and trains terrorist organizations worldwide, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, endangering American men and women in uniform,” the White House statement read. 

The re-designation means the imposition of harsher economic penalties than the Biden administration had levied.

"The Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade,” the White House said, adding they will "cooperate with its regional partners to eliminate Ansar Allah’s capabilities and operations, deprive it of resources, and thereby end its attacks on U.S. personnel and civilians, U.S. partners, and maritime shipping in the Red Sea,” it detailed. 

Controlling most of Yemen, the group has carried out tens of attacks on ships in the Red Sea since November 2023, what they call a sign of solidarity with Palestine over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Trump’s order came just hours after the Houthis announced they had released the crew of the Galaxy Leader cargo vessel, which had been seized by the Iran-backed group soon after Israel's war on Gaza.

The Houthis said they had granted the release to support the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.