US Freezes Assets of Yemeni Bank and Leaders Over Houthi Support
By The Media Line Staff
The United States Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting the International Bank of Yemen (IBY) and three of its key leaders, citing the institution’s role in financing Houthi rebel activities. The move is part of a broader US effort to curb Iran-backed Houthi attacks on commercial shipping routes in the Red Sea.
“Financial institutions like IBY are critical to the Houthis’ efforts to access the international financial system and threaten both the region and international commerce,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender.
Sanctioned alongside the bank were senior figures Kamal Hussain Al Jebry, Ahmed Thabit Noman Al-Absi, and Abdulkader Ali Bazara, whom US officials accuse of enabling financial flows that support destabilizing activities across the region.
The designation freezes all property and interests in property of the sanctioned individuals within US jurisdiction and prohibits US persons from engaging in transactions with them.
The State Department reinforced the announcement with a separate statement, asserting that the US remains “committed to disrupting Houthi financial networks and banking access.”
The Houthis, who seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014 and have since expanded control across parts of the country, began targeting Red Sea shipping in late 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
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