On Wednesday, Houthi rebels reportedly stormed the U.S. Embassy, seizing it and taking employees as hostages.
According to the National Review, Yemen has been fighting the Houthis in a brutal civil war for the last seven years. The war is also sometimes called a "proxy war" because the Houthis are being backed, funded and armed by the Iranian government, while the Yemeni government is being supported by Saudi Arabia. The war began in 2014.
The Houthis stormed the compound on Wednesday and demanded "large quantities of equipment and materials," the Middle East Media Research Institute reports.
A State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon that the U.S. has been "unceasing in its diplomatic efforts to secure the hostages' release.
"The majority of the detained have been released, but the Houthis continue to detain additional Yemeni employees of the embassy," the spokesman said.
One month after President Joe Biden took office, he pulled "all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales," the National Review reports. The U.S. had previously been supporting the Yemini government.
Biden also revoked the foreign-terrorist organization label that was previously placed on the Houthi by the Trump administration. According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden's decision was "a recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen."
When the designation was in place, it cut off the Houthis from receiving "financial support and other material resources that are routed through U.S. banks or other American institutions."
As per the Trump administration, the designation featured a plan allowing the treasury Department "to provide licenses pursuant to its authorities and corresponding guidance that relate to the official activities of the United States government in Yemen, including assistance programming that continues to be the largest of any donor and the official activities of certain international organizations such as the United Nations."
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
