US Sanctions Houthi Military Leaders as Peace Efforts Stall

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - The United States is imposing sanctions on two Houthi military officials leading the Iran-aligned movement's offensive to seize Yemen's gas-rich Marib region, the U.S. Special Envoy on Yemen said Thursday.

Tim Lenderking urged the group battling a Saudi-led coalition for more than six years to de-escalate and engage seriously with U.S. and U.N. efforts for a cease-fire needed to end the war, a top foreign policy priority for the Biden administration. He also urged the Saudi-led military alliance to remove restrictions on all Yemeni ports and airports to ease what the United Nations says is the world's largest humanitarian crisis. "The Houthis are not winning in Marib. Instead they are putting a great deal of stress on an already very fragile humanitarian situation, they are putting the lives of 1 million internally displaced people ... in danger," Lenderking said.