On Tuesday, it was announced that the US Treasury Department placed sanctions on two significant commanders of the Houthi movement, also known as Ansarallah, in Yemen. It is stated that Mansur Al-Sa’adi and Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi were put on the sanction list because of their responsibilities for leading attacks of the Houthi group, which inflicted damage on Yemeni civilians, bordering nations, and commercial vessels in international waters. Also, it is highlighted that these attacks have served Iran’s agenda and created more than one million internally displaced people (IDP) in Yemen.
According to the statement, Al-Sa’adi acts as the Houthi Naval Forces Chief of Staff and he is responsible for leading attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea. Al-Hamzi, on the other hand, serves as the commander of a group within the Yemeni Air Force who is loyal to the Houthis. He also provides Iranian-made weapons to the group to use against the legitimate government in Yemen, the statement added.
The Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea Gacki states that these individuals directed fighters whose attacks are worsening the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Recently, Houthi offensives towards Marib city, the last stronghold of the internationally recognized government in Yemen, have intensified. International humanitarian groups have recently announced that the latest clashes in Marib have forced more than a thousand people to leave their homes in the region.
