Israel lobbying Biden on behalf of UAE to designate Ansarollah movement as terror group

In recent months, The Ansarollah movement in Yemen launched unprecedented air assaults on the UAE.

Last month the group claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a key oil facility in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE and the United States have since intercepted several ballistic missiles and drones fired by the Ansarollah movement at the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The Ansarollah movement have taken aim at the UAE’s status as premier business and tourism hub for the region, taunting it with cryptic threats against the Dubai Expo and warning foreign companies to leave the country.

The UAE has already asked the Biden administration to re-designate the Ansarollah movement as a terrorist organisation. Biden came into office promising to end the war in Yemen, and one of the signature moves of his early days in office was removing the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) label slapped on the Ansarollah movement during the final days of the Trump administration.

Several members of the US Congress have also floated the idea of re-designation. Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was looking "very carefully" at the issue and was in conversation with other officials.

US President Joe Biden has said his administration was considering the move in light of the recent attacks.