The United States is tightening the noose around the Houthis after releasing ballast.

Washington imposed, Tuesday, March 2, financial sanctions on two "key militants" of the rebel group in Yemen.

They are accused of "orchestrating attacks" against civilians, neighboring countries, and commercial ships.

These measures come after President Joe Biden canceled the inclusion of the Houthis on the blacklist of terrorist organizations, decided at the very end of the mandate of his predecessor Donald Trump.

Humanitarian organizations feared that this classification would hamper the delivery of aid in large areas controlled by the insurgents, and cause widespread famine.

A sanction decided after the removal of the Houthis from the blacklist 

The Biden government has made it clear that this backtracking was motivated by purely humanitarian reasons.

He has since tried to find other ways to speak out against the Houthis and push them to negotiate a political solution to the conflict.

The sanctions against Mansour al-Saadi, presented as the chief of staff of the naval forces of the rebellion, and Ahmad Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, commander of the air forces, are part of this logic.

"The United States condemns the destruction of civilian sites by Houthi militants sanctioned on this day," the US Treasury said in a statement.

According to Washington, Mansour al-Saadi has organized "deadly attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea", which hit both military and civilian ships.

He "received a complete training in Iran" and "contributed to illegally bring Iranian weapons into Yemen", accuses the American Treasury.

General Ahmad Ali al-Hamzi, "also trained in Iran", is for his part presented as the head of the rebel drone program used for "targeted strikes".

Worsening fighting in northern Yemen

Despite President Biden's desire to give new impetus to negotiations for peace in Yemen, violence is escalating in Marib, in the north of the country, between the Houthis and the government backed by Saudi Arabia.

As Washington has stopped militarily supporting the Riyadh-led military coalition, and has dispatched an envoy to the region twice in a month, the rebels have stepped up their operations and the Saudi air force is pounding their positions to prevent them from advancing .

On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Houthis to cease their offensive and "join the Saudis and the government of Yemen in acting constructively for peace."

With AFP

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