Saudi Arabia Presses EU to Designate Yemen’s Houthis as Terrorists

The campaign has not overcome European fears that a listing would close limited channels with the group and undermine a future Yemen peace process.

The Houthis have carried out near-daily attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks after the war resumed.

Few EU States Back Listing

A listing requires the unanimous support of all 27 EU member states. Only a small number back the step, one of the officials said, declining to identify the countries because the talks were private.

The Houthis already face an EU arms embargo and asset freezes on 12 commanders. The bloc has listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, but has not listed the Houthis themselves.

The United States designated the group, also known as Ansarallah, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in March 2025. Australia and Canada have taken similar steps.

Saudi Arabia’s government communications office did not respond to a request for comment. EU foreign policy spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said the bloc was in regular contact with Riyadh, but declined to discuss any specific talks.

Parliament Vote Stays Symbolic

The European Parliament last month adopted a largely symbolic resolution calling on the EU to list the Houthis as a terrorist group.

Joana de Deus Pereira of the Royal United Services Institute said European governments wanted to show solidarity with Saudi Arabia but remained hesitant, and that a designation would have limited practical effect.

She also cited possible Houthi attacks on European vessels near Yemen and complications for aid groups in areas the movement controls. Officials added that a designation is hard to reverse, because lifting it would also require unanimity.

Attacks Resume After 2022 Truce

Saudi Arabia has for more than a decade led a coalition against the Houthis, who drove Yemen’s recognized government out of Sanaa in 2014. A 2022 truce collapsed in July after the Houthis accused Riyadh of bombing Sanaa airport.

Cross-border attacks since then have killed and injured civilians. The Houthis have also reportedly demanded $51 billion and formal recognition from Saudi Arabia to end the fighting.

After a deadly Houthi missile strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid airport in October, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc stood in solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Debris from later intercepts damaged the Aramco Tower in the capital this month.

Yemen’s coast runs along the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a waterway linking Europe and Asia. Officials warned that Houthi attacks there could further disrupt trade already strained by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The group already runs an email clearance system for ships in the Red Sea.