Penalties come a day after Israeli attacks on Yemen killed 35, and two weeks after Houthi PM was assassinated.
The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions on Yemen’s Houthis amid a sharp escalation of tensions in the region.
The US Treasury Department said on Thursday that it was issuing sanctions against 32 individuals and entities, as well as four vessels. The move aims to disrupt Houthi fundraising, smuggling and attack operations.
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The sanctions target several China-based companies that have helped transport military-grade components to the group, as well as petroleum smugglers and Houthi-linked shipping companies, the Treasury said.
“The Houthis continue to threaten US personnel and assets in the Red Sea, attack our allies in the region and undermine international maritime security in coordination with the Iranian regime,” said John K Hurley, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
The Houthis have launched hundreds of drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since late 2023 in what they say is an act of solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war in Gaza.
Back in May, the group reached an Omani-brokered ceasefire agreement with Washington, which brought to an end two months of US attacks on Yemen, as well as a broader campaign by the US and the United Kingdom.
The new sanctions come as Israel stokes major regional tensions with a number of attacks across the Middle East and its continued assault on Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and al-Jawf governorate killed at least 35 people.
The day before, Israel struck a Hamas leadership compound in Qatar’s capital, Doha. Other attacks targeted Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia.
Two weeks ago, Israel assassinated Ahmed al-Rahawi, the prime minister of the Houthi-controlled government in Yemen, in an air strike on Sanaa in a bid to get the group to drop its allegiance with Palestinians.
Amid the escalating tensions, Jordan’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday that the Houthis had released Jordanian citizen Lana Shukri Kataw, the deputy representative of UNICEF, from detention.
Kataw was one of at least 19 United Nations staffers detained in late August, when the Houthis raided their offices in Sanaa as part of a long-running crackdown on international organisations working in rebel-held areas.
