The United States and Britain on Tuesday sanctioned an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deputy commander and a Houthi militant, linking them to missile attacks launched from Yemen targeting Red Sea shipping.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea area for months, only rarely hitting vessels but forcing threatened cargo shippers to abandon the shortest passage from Asia to Europe through the Suez Canal and instead taking the much longer route around the tip of Africa.
U.S. and British airstrikes on Houthi missile sites have failed to halt the attacks.
U.S. Treasury Department official Brian Nelson said the sanctions underscored “our resolve” to block funding for the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Houthis.
“As the Houthis persistently threaten the security of peaceful international commerce, the United States and the United Kingdom will continue to disrupt the funding streams that enable these destabilizing activities,” Nelson said.
The sanctions specifically target Mohammad Reza Falahzadeh, the current deputy commander of the IRGC Quds Force, and Houthi militant Ibrahim al-Nashiri.
The U.S. Treasury noted that the Quds Force and Houthis "engage in the sale of Iranian commodities to foreign buyers to generate revenue" for funding Houthi operations.
The Treasury also announced sanctions against the owner and operator of a vessel used to ship Iranian commodities — Hong Kong-based Cap Tees Shipping Company — to support the Houthis and IRGC Quds Force.
The sanctions block any assets the blacklisted entities hold in the U.S. and any future transactions with Americans.
