The United States on Monday imposed new sanctions aimed at cutting off the flow of arms, supplies and money to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen and have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea in a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.
“The United States remains determined to use the full range of our tools to stem the flow of funds from the sale of military-grade materials and commodities that can aid these destabilizing terrorist activities.” Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence A statement.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that the sanctions target two individuals and five entities that facilitated the purchase of weapons for the Houthis, as well as an individual, a company and a vessel that helped transport the goods. “The sales of these goods provided an important source of funds for the Houthis to purchase weapons.”
The U.S. Treasury Department said some of the designated entities are headquartered in China or purchase weapons materials from Chinese companies.
The U.S. action comes as Houthi rebels have recently stepped up attacks on ships, for which the U.S. Navy has retaliated militarily.
The Navy said Sunday The crew has been airlifted A Greek merchant ship attacked in the Red Sea last week. Launch an airstrike The U.S. military destroyed three anti-ship cruise missile launchers in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command.
Since mid-November, the Houthi rebels, the de facto government in northern Yemen, have Dozens of attacks were launched Ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal carry 12% of world trade through this vital shipping route. The Houthis, whose ideology is anti-Israel and anti-US, consider themselves part of an “axis of resistance” led by Iran, alongside Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Their leaders often compare American-made bombs to Defeating the Yemeni Army and weapons Sent to Israel Used in Gaza.
“The Houthis are able to carry out sustained, indiscriminate and reckless attacks on unarmed commercial shipping because they have access to critical components needed to produce missiles and drones,” Nielsen said.
The U.S. Treasury Department statement accused the Houthis of “killing innocent civilians, causing severe damage to commercial shipping, and threatening freedom of navigation around the world.”
