US sanctions against Houthis over Red Sea attacks take effect
Title of ‘specially designated global terrorist’ applied to Iran-backed Yemeni rebels, in reversal of Biden’s 2021 removal of harsher Trump-era designation
Sanctions imposed by the United States on the Yemeni Houthi rebels for obstructing Red Sea commerce took effect Friday.
The designation, which serves to curtail the group’s access to the global financial system, falls short of a more far-reaching option at the Biden administration’s disposal — labeling the Houthis a “foreign terrorist organization,” as former US President Donald Trump had done toward the end of his term.
US President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s designation in 2021, arguing that the Trump-imposed sanctions blocked efforts to get humanitarian aid into war-torn Yemen.
The re-designation was first announced by the US State Department on January 17, and is scheduled to come into effect on February 16.
According to senior US officials, concerns for ongoing humanitarian efforts stood behind the administration’s decision to stop short of applying the “foreign terrorist organization” on January 17. The label carries stricter prohibitions on providing material support to blacklisted entities, in addition to coming with automatic travel bans for those on it.
Yemen has been embroiled in a humanitarian crisis since 2015, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized vast swaths of the country, including the capital of Sana’a. The uprising saw a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition intervene on behalf of government forces fighting the Houthis in a war widely seen as a proxy conflict between US ally Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Ahead of the “specially designated global terrorist” appellation’s taking effect Friday, the US State Department announced on January 25 that it would impose personal sanctions on four senior Houthi officials, “to further promote accountability for the group’s recent terrorist attacks.” The US imposed personal sanctions concurrently with the United Kingdom.
“The Houthis’ persistent terrorist attacks on merchant vessels and their civilian crews lawfully transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden threaten to disrupt international supply chains and the freedom of navigation, which is critical to global security, stability, and prosperity,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson in the US Treasury Department January 25 statement, adding that the “joint action with the United Kingdom demonstrates our collective action to leverage all authorities to stop these attacks.”
Those sanctioned were Houthi Defense Minister Mohamed Nasser al-Atifi, Commander of Houthi Naval Forces Muhammad Fadl Abd Al-Nabi, coastal defense forces chief Muhammad Ali al-Qadiri, and Muhammed Ahmad al-Talibi, whom the two governments described as the Houthi forces’ director of procurement.
The US action freezes any US-based assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Britain said they would be subject to asset freezes, arms embargoes and travel bans.
The Houthis have launched dozens of attacks since November on vessels in the Red Sea, in what they claim is an effort to support Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
However, many of the ships targeted have had no ties to Israel whatsoever. In January, US and British forces responded by carrying out air and sea strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, though, they did not deter further attacks from the rebel group.
The attacks are part of a broad response to Israel’s war in Gaza by a so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah — all of whom are backed by Iran.
War was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, which saw thousands of terrorists storm southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and take over 250 hostages of all ages.
Israel’s ensuing offensive in the Strip has seen about half of its residences destroyed, effecting the displacement of over a million people, many of whom are at risk of starvation. Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry says over 28,000 Palestinians have been killed, though the figure cannot be independently verified and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, of whom the Israeli military says it has killed upwards of 10,000.
The Times of Israel Community.