LONDON: The UAE has designated one individual and five entities on its list of persons and organizations supporting terrorism for their role in supporting Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militia, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Wednesday.
“The companies and individual listed have been linked to supporting the terrorist Houthi militia, which uses these funds to target civilian facilities and civilians,” WAM reported.
The following is the list of the newly added individual and entities:
1. Al Alamiyah Express Company for Exchange & Remittance.
2. Al-Hadha Exchange Company.
3. Moaz Abdulla Dael For Import and Export.
4. Vessel: Three - Type: Bulk Carrier – IMO (9109550)
5. Peridot Shipping & Trading LLC.
“All regulatory authorities are ordered to monitor and identify all affiliated individuals or entities with any financial or commercial relationship with those listed, and take the necessary measures according to the laws in force in the country, including the freezing of all financial assets in less than 24 hours,” WAM reported.
In January, the Houthis targeted the UAE with three missile and drone attacks, all targeting civilian sites and infrastructures and led to the death of three civilians.
The US on Wednesday also announced sanctions against what it said were members of an international financing network for Yemen’s Houthi militia after the Iran-backed group recently escalated cross-border drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The sanctions are aimed at a source of the militia’s financial support, targeting shipping companies and other businesses that the US says smuggles petroleum and other commodities around the Middle East, Asia and Africa to fund the Houthis.
Both the US and the UAE's latest terrorism designations included Abdo Abdullah Dael Ahmed, a UAE- and Sweden-based commodities trader and his company, Moaz Abdallah Dael Import and Export.
President Joe Biden said last month that the United States was considering redesignating the Houthis and Houthi leaders as terrorists, a step that typically carries harsh US government penalties for those doing business with them.
The Trump administration imposed that designation in its last days. The Biden administration lifted it as one of its first acts as aid groups said the penalties would scare away commercial food suppliers and humanitarian efforts in an already chronically hungry country.
* With AP
