March 6, 2025
Thank you, Madam President, and we wish you success in your tenure as President of the Council this month.
Thank you, Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher, and from the peace track initiative, Ms. Nesmah Mansoor Ali. Thank you for your briefings and in particular for underscoring the continued Houthi threats to international peace and security, and how the Houthi’s creation of an untenable environment for continued aid provision in areas under Houthi control, directly led the UN to pause all activities in Yemen’s Sa’adah governorate.
The Security Council spoke with one voice last month by issuing a press statement condemning the tragic death of a World Food Program employee in Houthi captivity, and demanding the immediate release of all those, including UN, NGO, and diplomatic staff unjustly detained by the Houthis.
Madam President, in line with President Trump’s Executive Order on re-designating the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the United States is taking concrete steps to eliminate the Houthis’ capabilities and has designated the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which was announced this week. The United States is also using targeted sanctions to deprive the Houthis of illicit revenues.
Our sanctions seek to preserve space for legitimate activities that support Yemenis living in Houthi-controlled territory who bear no responsibility for the Houthis’ malign actions.
We will also take steps to stop Iran’s support for Houthi terrorism, in accordance with President Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum re-imposing maximum pressure on Iran.
We will take action against the Houthis should they resume their reckless attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways and on Israel.
Every UN Member State has a responsibility to abide by its obligations under the resolutions adopted by this Council, including concerning the prohibition on providing arms or related materiel, as well as related training or financial assistance, to the Houthis.
As a Council, we must respond to Iran’s flagrant violations of our resolutions through its continued arming of the Houthis.
We reiterate our call for this Council to take steps to strengthen the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism, or UNVIM, and for Member States to do their part by increasing funding for UNVIM’s long-term planning, recruitment of staff, and critical infrastructure needed for enhanced capacity to inspect 100 percent of covered containers.
The Houthis continue to attempt to hold the Bab al-Mandeb and global commerce hostage. The Houthis have shown little willingness or ability to distinguish among their targets, and their claims that their attacks have any legitimate basis should never be accepted.
We also have already seen Hamas — another Iran-enabled terrorist group — advise the Houthis to keep their hand on the trigger for renewed attacks on regional states and international commerce.
Member States must stop making excuses for the Houthis and cease propagating a false moral equivalency on regional issues. Houthi actions have done nothing for the Palestinian people. They have only endangered the lives of innocent, and they have brought more suffering to Yemenis.
The Houthis’ obstruction of aid exacerbated the spread of cholera last year, and so-called Houthi authorities continue to routinely harass civilians and shake down small business owners. Now they are forcing Yemeni money exchangers to buy shares in a Houthi-controlled network for transfers, imposing their mafia-like control over the Yemeni private sector.
The Yemeni people continue to suffer from this economic repression and Houthi roundups. Unlawful detentions and sham trials are an affront to the international community. The Houthis have had many opportunities to de-escalate and set free the detainees; they have refused them all.
Madam President, in recent meetings, many Council members expressed particular concern about the Houthis’ sham so-called “judicial proceedings” involving a significant number of detainees. We categorically reject the unlawful process and strongly warn of any potential use of it as cover for politically-motivated killings.
We are closely monitoring these sham proceedings, especially if they move to the stage of handing out purported “sentences” in the Houthis’ so-called State Security Court. If the Houthis do this, all donors must stand ready to respond with further concrete steps to reduce the exposure of their field staff and programs to Houthi abuses.
To reiterate, the United States will continue to oppose the destabilizing actions of the Houthis and will not abide by any attacks on our interests.
I thank you.