S. 159 — Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act

This section states congressional findings that (1) Iran sent advanced weapons and military advisers to Yemen’s Ansarallah (commonly referred to as the Houthis), as reported by Reuters on March 21, 2017; (2) the Trump Administration designated Ansarallah as a foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorist on January 19, 2021; (3) Secretary of State Blinken revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation on February 16, 2021, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1189(a)(6)(A); and (4) Ansarallah conducted drone strikes targeting Saudi oil facilities on March 7, 2021 (Ras Tanura oil storage yard), and March 19, 2021 (Riyadh oil refinery), after which it claimed responsibility for six drones on a Saudi Aramco facility and vowed continued operations.

This section requires the Secretary of State to designate Ansarallah as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) pursuant to section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)) not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act. (FTO designation prohibits knowingly providing material support to the organization, renders its members inadmissible to the United States, and authorizes asset blocking.) The section further requires the President to impose sanctions not later than 90 days after enactment on Ansarallah and any foreign person that is a member, agent, or affiliate of, or owned or controlled by, Ansarallah, including (1) blocking sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; i.e., asset freeze and prohibition on U.S. transactions with designated terrorism supporters); and (2) sanctions described in Executive Order 13780 (8 U.S.C. 1182 note; i.e., restrictions on entry into the United States), as in effect on January 19, 2021, applied to nationals of Yemen.