The US State Department announced today, Wednesday, the inclusion of two ship owners and operators in Hong Kong and the Marshall Islands on the US sanctions list for their relationship with a financial network affiliated with the terrorist Houthi militia.

State spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press statement, “The United States imposed sanctions on two shipowners in Hong Kong and the Marshall Islands for their role in facilitating the flow of Iranian financial aid to the Houthi forces and designated their ships as prohibited property.”

He explained that this aid “empowers the Houthi armed capabilities, including the ongoing attacks on international maritime trade in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.”

The spokesman stressed that the United States will continue to use all available measures to disrupt the financing flows that enable these destabilizing activities.