CAIRO – A leading aid organization on Monday warned that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's move to designate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization would deal another “devastating blow" to the impoverished and war-torn nation.
In his announcement late Sunday, Pompeo pledged that U.S. measures would help absorb the impact on aid groups and allow humanitarian assistance to continue to flow to the Arab world's poorest country.The Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the main humanitarian agencies active in Yemen, said the designation and Pompeo's planned sanctions on the Houthis “will hamstring the ability of aid agencies to respond” to the humanitarian needs of millions of Yemenis.“Yemen’s faltering economy.