The United States has taken action against individuals and entities that provide support to the Houthis who have attacked merchant ships in Yemen.
"The United States today imposed sanctions on one individual and three entities that facilitated Iran's financial assistance to the Houthis to enable their attacks on international shipping and other destabilizing activities," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a written statement.
The statement added that the unnamed individuals and entities "facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars to the Houthis on the instructions of Said al-Jamal, who has contacts with the Quds Force of the Iran-based Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and is on the US sanctions list."
The statement emphasized that the Houthis' ongoing attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have disrupted the free flow of trade in the region, noting that since October, the Houthis "have carried out numerous missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks on commercial ships passing near the Yemeni coastline in clear violation of international law."
The statement went on to say that the United States "will continue to fight against Iran's illicit financial support for the Houthis" and called on the international community to stand "against the destabilizing activities of the Houthis and their Iranian backers."
