LONDON/WASHINGTON: On Thursday, January 25, the United States and Britain announced that they had placed coordinated sanctions on four prominent Houthi individuals due to their involvement in or sponsorship of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Attacks by the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, have hampered international trade and increased concerns about inflation. They have also increased worries that the Middle East may become unstable due to the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Mohamed Nasser al-Atifi, the head of the Houthi defense forces, Muhammad Fadl Abd Al-Nabi, the commander of the Houthi naval forces, Muhammad Ali al-Qadiri, the chairman of the coastal defense forces, and Muhammad Ahmad al-Talibi, who the two governments identified as the director of procurement for the Houthi forces, were among those sanctioned.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who is now touring the Middle East, said in a statement that “with our allies, we will continue to target those responsible for the Houthis’ unacceptable and illegal actions, which risk innocent seafarers’ lives and disrupt aid deliveries to the Yemeni people.”
According to Britain, the sanctions are intended to impede their capacity to launch assaults against ships in the Red Sea and advance Yemen’s security, stability, and peace.
According to the US Treasury, al-Atifi had openly threatened the Houthis that they would turn the Red Sea into a cemetery if the US-led naval coalition took any action against Yemen with the intention of assisting in securing commercial traffic.
According to the US, Al-Talibi is involved in attempts to smuggle drones, weapons, missiles, and other materials into Yemen that are supplied by Iran.
In a statement, US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson stated, “The Houthis’ persistent terrorist attacks on merchant vessels and their civilian crews… threaten to disrupt international supply chains and the freedom of navigation, which is critical to global security, stability, and prosperity.”
“Today’s joint action with the United Kingdom demonstrates our collective action to leverage all authorities to stop these attacks.”
The US action prevents Americans from doing business with the targeted parties and freezes their assets located in the US. Britain announced that travel restrictions, arms embargoes, and asset freezes would apply to them.
A fresh wave of strikes was launched in Yemen on Monday by US and British forces, targeting a Houthi subterranean storage facility as well as missile and monitoring systems utilized by the Iran-aligned group to attack Red Sea ships.
