US President Joe Biden has renewed the national emergency with respect to Yemen, a contingency first announced about a decade ago to deal with threats to US security and foreign policy arising from the war-torn country.
The renewable extension is expected to last until 2022.
“On May 16, 2012, by Executive Order 13611, the President declared a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 USC 1701-1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US,” read a White House presidential actions brief on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the actions and policies of some former Yemeni government officials and others who threatened the Middle Eastern country’s peace, security, and stability have impeded a smooth political transition in Yemen and put US interests in danger.
“These actions include obstructing the political process in Yemen and blocking implementation of the agreement of November 23, 2011, between the Government of Yemen and those in opposition to it, which provide for a peaceful transition of power that meets the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people,” it said.
“The actions and policies of certain former members of the government of Yemen and others in threatening Yemen’s peace, security, and stability continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US.”
For that reason, Biden declared another year of national emergency concerning Yemen.
Meanwhile, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking discussed de-escalation in Yemen’s northeastern governorate of Marib, ending the Yemeni humanitarian crisis and achieving a settlement among all warring parties.
He did so with several European ambassadors and representatives of international organizations.
In a tweet, the US State Department confirmed that Lenderking and Christopher Farnaud, France’s director for the Middle East at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, spoke on Tuesday.
The two agreed that “Houthis are holding the future of Yemen hostage, continuing a long, costly offensive on Marib.”
Moreover, the State Department said Lenderking and Farnaud considered the Saudi-proposed ceasefire to be a “fair deal” and called on Houthis to engage.
Houthis have refused to halt their year-long offensive on oil-rich Marib, threatening to exacerbate a humanitarian catastrophe in the province that houses about one million Yemenis displaced by six years of civil war.
The State Department also rebuked the Iran-backed group for refusing to meet the UN’s Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, in Oman last week.
