Three Houthi leaders to remain under US sanctions: Blinken
SMA NEWS – WASHINGTON
Three Houthi leaders are to remain under US sanctions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
“Ansarallah leaders Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, Abd Al-Khaliq Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya Al-Hakim remain sanctioned under E.O. 13611 related to acts that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen,” Blinken said, referring to the Houthi militia by its formal name.
Blinken added in a statement that the United States would “closely monitor” Houthi activities and is “actively identifying” new sanctions targets, especially those responsible for attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia.
The US “remains clear-eyed about Ansarallah’s malign actions, and aggression, including taking control of large areas of Yemen by force, attacking US partners in the Gulf, kidnapping and torturing citizens of the United States and many of our allies, diverting humanitarian aid, brutally repressing Yemenis in areas they control” and the attack on Yemen’s government in Aden at the end of last year, the secretary of state said.
The US designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group will end Tuesday in hopes of supporting humanitarian efforts, Blinken announced.
“The revocations are intended to ensure that relevant US policies do not impede assistance to those already suffering what has been called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” he said in a statement.
