The U.S. Department of the Treasury today sanctioned the former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and two military commanders affiliated with the Huthi group, Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim and Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13611 for engaging in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen. Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi has engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Yemen. In late October 2013, al-Huthi led a group of fighters dressed in Yemeni military uniforms in an attack on locations in Dimaj, Yemen. The ensuing fighting resulted in multiple deaths. On August 30, 2014, al-Huthi coordinated to move weapons from Amran to a protest camp in Sana’a. In late September 2014, an unknown number of unidentified fighters allegedly were prepared to attack diplomatic facilities in Sana’a upon receiving orders from al-Huthi.
On November 9, 2012, OFAC issued the Yemen Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 552 (the “Regulations”) (77 FR 67276, November 9, 2012), to implement Executive Order 13611 of May 16, 2012, “Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen” (77 FR 29533, May 18, 2012) (E.O. 13611). The Regulations were initially issued in abbreviated form for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. OFAC is amending and reissuing the Regulations as a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive and definitional guidance, general licenses, statements of licensing policy, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public. Due to the number of regulatory sections being updated or added, OFAC is reissuing the Regulations in their entirety.
Executive Order 13611. On May 16, 2012, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA), issued E.O. 13611. In E.O. 13611, the President found that the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Yemen and others threaten Yemen's peace, security, and stability, including by obstructing the implementation of the agreement of November 23, 2011, between the Government of Yemen and those in opposition to it, which provides for a peaceful transition of power that meets the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people for change, and by obstructing the political process in Yemen. The President further found that these actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
