The United States and United Kingdom on Thursday announced joint sanctions against four Houthi military officials in Yemen amid an escalating armed conflict with a militant group that has targeted international commercial shipping in the Red Sea with attacks.
The sanctions target senior military leaders of the Iranian-backed group that has controlled northern Yemen amid a nearly decadelong civil war in the country.
Blacklisted individuals include the Houthis’ so-called minister of defense; the commander of its maritime forces; its coastal defense forces chief and its director of procurement, with the Treasury Department said is responsible for smuggling Iranian-provided weapons into Yemen.
“The Houthis’ persistent terrorist attacks on merchant vessels and their civilian crews lawfully transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden threaten to disrupt international supply chains and the freedom of navigation, which is critical to global security, stability, and prosperity,” said Brian E. Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in a statement.
“Today’s joint action with the United Kingdom demonstrates our collective action to leverage all authorities to stop these attacks.” (The Hill)
