US sanctions two Houthi military leaders after attacks on Saudi Arabia
The administration's revocation of the Houthis' terrorist designation has been met with further missile strikes.
The United States has announced sanctions on two military leaders of Yemen’s Houthi rebel movement following a spate of attacks on neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Mansur al-Saadi, the head of the Houthis’ naval forces, and Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, head of the rebels’ air force, were sanctioned on Tuesday for “procur[ing] weapons from Iran and oversee[ing] attacks threatening civilians and maritime infrastructure,” the State Department announced today.
The United States accused the rebel officials of orchestrating attacks that have impacted “Yemeni civilians, bordering nations and commercial vessels in international waters” on behalf of “the Iranian regime’s destabilizing agenda,” according to a US Treasury statement.
Al-Saadi is also alleged to have overseen smuggling of Iranian weapons into Yemen and “mastermind[ing] lethal attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea.” Houthi forces under al-Hamzi’s command, the Treasury said, “have carried out targeted UAV strikes.”
