(London) London and Washington announced sanctions on Thursday against four officials from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, whom they consider involved in organizing attacks on ships in the Red Sea which are disrupting maritime transport in the region.
“These sanctions reinforce the clear message we have sent to the Houthis in recent weeks […] Along with our allies, we will continue to target those responsible for the unacceptable and illegal attacks carried out by the Houthis, which threaten the lives of innocent sailors and disrupt aid deliveries to the Yemeni people,” the British Foreign Secretary said in a statement. David Cameron.
The objective of these sanctions is to “disrupt” the rebels’ ability to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, according to London, which says it is “determined to protect freedom of navigation”.
“The Houthis’ persistent terrorist attacks against merchant ships and their civilian crews threaten global supply chains and freedom of navigation, critical to global security, stability and prosperity,” denounced the undersecretary. American Treasury, Brian Nelson.
Among the four officials sanctioned are Mohamed al-Atifi, minister of defense of the rebels, and Muhammad Fadl Abd al-Nabi, commander of the Houthi naval forces, details the British press release.
This specifies that the sanctions consist in particular of a freeze of their assets and a ban on British territory, similar to those taken by the United States.
These sanctions were announced after new American and American-British strikes against Yemeni rebel sites. The two Western allies launched their first strikes against the Houthis on January 11.
The Houthis are increasing attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which has pushed many shipowners to now avoid these essential passages for international trade.
The rebels, who control a large part of Yemen, a country itself at war for almost a decade, say they are acting in solidarity with the population of Gaza, who have been living under siege since the launch of Israeli strikes in retaliation for the the deadly Hamas attack of October 7.