The United States has sanctioned senior leaders of the Ansarallah group, including spokesperson Mohammed Abdul Salam, for alleged weapons imports and recruiting Yemenis to fight in Ukraine.
The United States government announced Wednesday the imposition of sanctions on senior leaders in the Ansarallah group in Yemen, including the group’s spokesperson, Mohammed Abdul Salam.
Sanctions were imposed on seven individuals for allegedly importing weapons illegally, as well as another member accused of sending Yemenis to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
Among those targeted by the sanctions is Mohammed Abdul Salam, the Ansarallah spokesperson residing in Oman, whom the US Treasury Department claimed to have played a pivotal role in managing Ansarallah’s internal and external financing network.
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The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Mahdi Mohammed Hussein Al-Mashat, whom it identified as the head of Ansarallah’s Supreme Political Council.
In a separate statement, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the US government is committed to holding Ansarallah accountable for acquiring weapons and weapon components from suppliers in Russia, China, and Iran, “threatening the security of the Red Sea.”
The Treasury Department said that the individual accused of recruiting Yemeni civilians to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine is Abdul Wali Abduh Hasan Al-Jabri.
Al-Jabri is accused by the US of providing revenue to support Ansarallah’s armed operations. The Treasury alleged that, through a private company, Al-Jabri facilitated the transfer of Yemeni civilians to Russian military units fighting in Ukraine in exchange for cash payments.
The American sanctions on the Ansarallah followed months of military confrontations, starting in December 2023, when the US formed a coalition—the Prosperity Guardian—to pressure Ansarallah to end its blockade on Israeli ships in the Red Sea.
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Ansarallah Solidarity
In response to the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip starting on October 7, 2023, Ansarallah claimed responsibility for launching missiles toward southern Israel and targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea.
In an official statement issued on November 14, the group vowed to target any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, a threat it carried out just days later.
On November 19, the Ansarallah seized the Israeli-owned ship Galaxy Leader and took it, along with its crew, to the Yemeni coast. On November 25, a Yemeni drone attacked the CMA CGM Symi, a ship owned by the Israeli company ZIM.
On December 3, the group announced the targeting of two Israeli ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait using a naval missile and a drone. The Ansarallah expanded their naval military operations on December 9, vowing to prevent the passage of all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality.
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These threats prompted several international shipping companies to suspend the passage of their vessels through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s most critical waterways, linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Approximately 7% of global maritime traffic, including oil tankers, passes through this strait.
In addition to targeting commercial ships, the group launched ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, at various targets in southern Israel, demanding that Israel end its genocide in the Strip.
On January 22 of last year, US President Donald Trump announced the designation of the group—which controls vast areas of Yemen—as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
Trump stated that his decision was made due to the Ansarallah’s activities that allegedly threaten the security of US civilians and personnel in the Middle East, as well as the closest regional partners and the stability of global trade.
(PC, AJA)
