US and UK sanction senior Houthis over Red Sea shipping attacks

The US and the UK have imposed sanctions on four senior Houthi officials for their roles in supporting or directing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Those targeted include Houthi defence minister Mohamed Nasser al-Atifi, commander of Houthi naval forces Muhammad Fadl Abd al-Nabi, coastal defence forces chief Muhammad Ali al-Qadiri and Muhammed Ahmad al-Talibi, described as the Houthi forces director of procurement.

“The Houthis’ persistent terrorist attacks on merchant vessels and their civilian crews … threaten to disrupt international supply chains and the freedom of navigation, which is critical to global security, stability, and prosperity,” the US treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in a statement.

“Today’s joint action with the United Kingdom demonstrates our collective action to leverage all authorities to stop these attacks.”

This is the first sanctions action against the Houthis coordinated between the UK and US since the attacks in the Red Sea began in November. The actions freeze any US and UK-based assets of those targeted.

The move follows strikes on January 11 and 22 against several targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, led by the US and UK, with support from the Netherlands, Canada, Bahrain, and Australia.

“These sanctions reinforce our clear message to the Houthis in recent weeks. We can degrade their ability to attack international shipping. We are determined to protect freedom of navigation. We will back our words with actions,” UK foreign secretary David Cameron added.

In related news, Reuters is reporting that Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing.

On January 14, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called for an end to attacks on civilian ships in the Red Sea.

Finally, exclusive data from freight fixing platform Sea below shows the remarkable tripling of all tonnage transiting West Africa as well as the spiking in containership voyage distances as the Red Sea shipping crisis has unfolded.

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