Biden Owes an Explanation: How Will He Force Iran to Change Its Behavior?

Amid reports that the U.S. administration intends to reclassify the Houthis in Yemen as a terrorist organization, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stated on Wednesday that he had warned against removing the Houthis from the terrorism list. He added, "I drew attention to how Tehran, even at that time, increased its shipments of lethal and longer-range weapons to terrorists in Yemen." He emphasized that "from the outset, the administration chose to confront Iranian aggression through appeasement. President Biden's team has operated on an extremely naive assessment of the threat we face... They have abandoned pressure and squandered leverage in an attempt to revive the failed nuclear deal." He further stated, "Effective deterrence means hitting what our adversaries cherish, not just empty terrorist warehouses," pointing out that "President Biden owes the people an explanation of how he exactly intends to compel Iran to change its behavior." Meanwhile, the U.S. administration plans to reclassify the Iran-backed Houthis as a terrorist group.