Yemen’s Houthi rebels, an Iranian-backed militia, have been wreaking havoc on merchant shipping in the southern Red Sea in recent days. The group claims they’re attacking and commandeering ships within the area in response to a push by Israeli forces into Gaza to combat Hamas, another Iranian-backed militia group.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration redesignated the Houthis as a global terror group, after reversing the Trump-era designation in 2021, despite reluctancy over, “possible disruptions to humanitarian assistance and peace talks,” from the White House.

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville said the Houthis are, and have always been, terrorists.

“President Biden and his administration has continued on with being 100% wrong in any decision he’s made foreign relation wise, not just his tenure as President but over his last 40 years of being in politics,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said in a call with reporters.

He also noted that Biden and his National Security Advisor removed the Houthis from the global terrorist group list prior to the attacks.

“Jake Sullivan and President Biden just a few years ago took the Houthis off the terrorist watch list said they weren’t terrorists. Now we’re turning around and saying that they are terrorists,” continued Sen. Tuberville.

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“If President Trump had been in office, this wouldn’t be happening,” he said. “I’ll tell you one thing, if they were attacking American ships, we wouldn’t have had to wait for several weeks to fight back.”

“That would’ve been done immediately,” Tuberville said. “We’re soft. The people across the world are seeing that — all of our adversaries.”

Since Israel’s Gaza offensive has begun, Yemen’s Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on ships in the area. The largest attack so far on American assets took place on January 9 when the terror group launched 21 drones and missiles from Yemen with the intention to hit as many American ships as possible.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.