Iraq withdraws terror designation of Hezbollah, Houthis

BAGHDAD

Iraq retracted a decision on Dec. 4 to classify Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis as “terrorist organizations,” saying the listing was “mistakenly” issued.

The official gazette, Al-Waqa’I al-Iraqiya, published a decision from the Committee for Freezing Terrorists’ Funds to designate the two groups as “terrorist organizations” and freeze their assets.

But the committee later issued a statement saying that the decision was based on a request from Malaysia and on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373 concerning the freezing of assets belonging to individuals and entities associated with ISIL and al-Qaida terror groups.

It said the list “mistakenly” included several parties and groups “that have no terrorist links to either organization,” referring to Hezbollah and Houthis.

It added that the document was released before it was fully revised and that the official gazette will be corrected to remove the unrelated entities.

The U.S. has long pushed to curb Iran’s reach in Iraq and across the region, where Tehran’s allies form part of its so-called Axis of Resistance — a network weakened by Israeli strikes since the Gaza war began in 2023.

Iran, meanwhile, sees Iraq as an essential economic lifeline under sanctions. But Baghdad, balancing ties with both Washington and Tehran, is cautious about being drawn into U.S. efforts to isolate Iran.