The Biden administration will reportedly re-designate the Houthis in Yemen as “specially designated global terrorists,” . News of the decision, which could be announced as soon as Wednesday, comes as the U.S. continues to launch strikes against the Houthis in response to the Iran-backed militant group’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Restoring the terrorist designation

In 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as both a “foreign terrorist organization” and as “specially designated global terrorists,” undoing a Trump administration move in an effort to make it easier to get humanitarian aid into Yemen.

According to the State Department, both the and designations would result in a freezing of U.S. assets.

However, unlike a designation, the SDGT label wouldn’t include sanctions for providing “material support,” nor would it impose immigration restrictions. So, the label the Biden administration is reportedly planning to give back to the Houthis shouldn’t significantly interfere with providing aid to Yemeni civilians, .

In an interview with , Dave Harden, a former senior State Department official who served in both the Trump and Obama administrations, said it’s not clear what impact reinstating the SDGT label to the Houthis would have on the current conflict.

“It doesn’t matter to the Houthis that they’re a foreign terrorist organization under U.S. law, they probably like it,” Harden said. “They don’t bank and shop and travel and engage in the Western economy. They’re not like [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov]. These guys, it doesn’t affect them, and if anything, it’s a badge of honor.”

Here’s what else is happening in ongoing the Red Sea conflict as fears of a wider war in the Middle East continue to grow.

U.S. strikes

The U.S. launched new strikes against the Houthis on Tuesday, targeting four missiles that appeared to be prepared for attacks on commercial ships, . It was the third strike against the militant group since the U.S. first took military action last week in response to the Houthis’ repeated attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, which are causing major disruptions to global maritime trade. The U.S. and U.K. militaries struck more than 60 targets in more than a dozen Houthi militant locations in Yemen.

The latest U.S. strikes came after Houthis attempted to hit a U.S. warship on Sunday and damaged a U.S.-owned and operated container ship on Monday.

Hours after Tuesday’s strikes , Houthi militants hit a Greek bulk carrier, but no injuries were reported, .

“Just because there hasn’t been a catastrophically successful one yet, thanks to a lot of great work by the U.S. Navy and allied and partner navies, doesn’t mean that we can just turn a blind eye and sit back and do nothing,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters on Tuesday. “We want these attacks to stop. … we’re not going to hesitate to take further action if needed.”

Two U.S. Navy Sailors are missing following Yemen-bound ship raid

Search and rescue operations are currently underway for two U.S. Navy sailors who went missing while conducting a raid of a Yemen-bound ship off the coast of Somalia last Thursday, .

The U.S. military also announced on Tuesday that, during the raid, Navy SEALs seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those two sailors and their families, who are waiting anxiously for word. And obviously, we’ll monitor as closely as we can,” Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.