Economic journalist: US sanctions on Houthi bank governor will reduce militia's influence on monetary and banking situation

Economic journalist Wafiq Saleh said that the sanctions imposed by the United States on the governor of the Houthi-affiliated Central Bank in Sana'a will reduce the militia's influence on the monetary and banking situation.

Saleh said in a series of posts on his Facebook page: “The US Treasury has placed the governor of the Houthi-affiliated Central Bank in Sana’a, Hashem al-Madani, on the sanctions list. I believe this is the first practical international move to respond to the farce of the monetary and banking division, and the violations that have affected the rest of the economic sectors in the country.”

The economic journalist considered the decision a remarkable development in the US administration’s position towards the crisis in Yemen, especially with regard to the financial and economic aspects, after it had been sponsoring, throughout the past years, meetings in Jordan between the government and the Houthis with the United Nations to coordinate monetary policy and address the banking division, and to try to give the group a large margin in implementing its conditions in order to find a unified administration for the Central Bank of Yemen.

He explained that the sanctions imposed on the governor of the Houthi-affiliated central bank in Sana'a, after years of banning the new edition of the currency and imposing a reality of monetary division, would "end any attempts at rapprochement, and would reduce the Houthis' influence on the banking sector and the monetary situation."

Saleh pointed out that the US Treasury sanctions on Al-Madani enhance the role of the internationally recognized Central Bank of Yemen in Aden in managing the country's monetary policy in general, and give it a strong boost to take any steps within the framework of its tasks and activities to restore the monetary and banking situation, and to correct the imbalances that the banking system has been exposed to, due to the division and duplication of decisions.

Government welcome

In the first government position on the US sanctions, Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar Al-Eryani welcomed the decision, saying that it confirms the credibility of the United States of America in combating terrorism and drying up its sources of funding, and exerting real pressure on the Houthi militia to force it to abandon its terrorist approach that destabilizes regional and international security and stability, and to engage seriously in efforts to end the war and establish peace.

Al-Eryani stressed in a statement on the X platform the importance of continuing and expanding these sanctions to include more individuals and entities linked to the Houthi militia, whether at home or abroad, and expanding their scope to include all funding and support networks that feed this terrorist entity.

Al-Eryani pointed out that these sanctions represent an important step towards enhancing regional and international security, as the Houthi militia, as an Iranian arm, represents a major threat not only to Yemen, but to the entire region, through its targeting of international navigation and global trade, attacks on neighboring countries, and a major factor in the continuation of war and terrorism in Yemen and the region.

On Thursday, it was announced The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 12 individuals and entities for their role in arms trafficking, money laundering, and shipping Iranian oil to the Houthi militia in Yemen, including Hashem Ismail Ali Ahmed Al-Madani, the governor of the Houthi-affiliated Central Bank in Sana’a.

The US Treasury said in a statement that "Al-Madani is the main supervisor of funds sent to the Houthis from the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and has cooperated with the Houthi financial official supported by the Quds Force, Al-Jamal, to conduct commercial activities on behalf of the Houthis."