Yemenis in Sana'a Protest US Blacklisting of Ansarullah (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Hundreds of Yemenis staged a demonstration in the capital, Sana’a, on Wednesday to protest against the United States’ decision to designate the Houthi Ansarullah group as a "terrorist organization".
The streets of Sana’a as well as those in several towns of the province of Ibb on Wednesday witnessed demonstrations against the US.
The White House is the “main sponsor of terrorism in the world”, the crowd in the Yemeni capital chanted.
“We've come out to say the United States is the mother of terrorism and doesn't have the right to classify anyone as terrorist,” a demonstrator told AFP.
Hizam al-Assad, a member of the political office of Ansarullah, denounced the “continued aggression against the Yemeni people by US administrations.”
In Ibb, protests were held in four districts including Yarim.
Yemeni protesters said the "foolish" move by the US aims to help tighten the Saudi-led siege of Yemen.
On January 10, then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation in defiance of aid groups who fear worsening of a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
The United Nations, the European Union, and aid groups, as well as lawmakers inside the United States have censured the move.
But Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a key party to the Riyadh-led coalition against Yemen, have been positive about it.
Since late 2014, Houthis have been running state affairs following the resignation of the Riyadh-back president Abd Rabbouh Mansur Hadi.
Months later in March 2015, the Saudi regime and a number of its allies launched the deadly war on Yemen to reinstall Hadi, but the campaign has flatly failed in the face of stiff resistance by the Yemeni armed forces.
The designation took effect on January 19, one day before the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president.
Biden's pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Tuesday the new administration would "immediately" review the blacklisting of the movement.
