The United States imposed, on Tuesday, sanctions against two leaders of the Houthi coup militia in Yemen, for their role in targeting civilians and neighboring countries and navigation.

The sanctions issued by the American extended to both Mansour Al-Saadi (known as Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces in the Militia), and Ahmed Al-Hamzi (Commander of the Militia’s Air Force).

The Ministry stated that “Mansour Al-Saadi, who is the Chief of Staff of the Houthi Naval Forces, is the mastermind of deadly attacks against international shipping. In the Red Sea, he received extensive training in Iran, and he also helped smuggle Iranian weapons into Yemen. ”

The ministry stated,“ Ahmed Ali Ahsan Al-Hamzi, commander of the Yemeni air forces and Yemeni air defense forces allied with the Houthis, In addition to the drone program, he obtained Iranian-made weapons for use in the Yemeni civil war, and received training in Iran. ”

Who is Al-Saadi?

The Houthi militia appointed the prominent leader in its ranks, Mansour Ahmed Al-Saadi, known as “Sajjad,” the general supervisor of the naval forces, and named him chief of staff of these affiliated forces. Which specialized according to information obtained by Al-Arabiya.net in planting sea mines and preparing booby-trapped boats to target international navigation under the supervision and training of experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Al-Saadi comes from the area of ​​Maran in the governorate. Saada is one of the most important strongholds of the Houthi coup militia, and is one of the most important arms of the militia leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, who has a close relationship with the Iranians. West Coast.

According to private sources, Al-Saadi is one of the Houthi leaders who received intensive training in Iran, where he was trained by the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, and he was supervising the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Yemen.

Al-Saadi was among the crew of the Iranian ship Jihan, which was detained off the Yemeni coast in 2012 and was carrying a shipment of weapons and explosive materials from Iran on its way to the Houthi militia. The government authorities arrested the Houthi leader, Al-Saadi, at that time, and after the coup And overrun Sana’a, the Houthi militia released him after Its control over the National Security Apparatus.

Al-Hamzi … from the unknown to the Air Force Command

No information is available about the Houthi leader Ahmed Ali Hassan al-Hamzi, except for He comes from the Maran district of Saada governorate, the main stronghold of the Houthi militia, and he had no public role before he was suddenly appointed to the Houthi air force command.

Al-Hamzi rose to this position in early 2019 to succeed the prominent Houthi leader He was appointed by the Houthi militia as the commander of the air force, and the first person responsible for launching ballistic missiles and drones, Major General Ibrahim al-Shami, who was killed in mysterious circumstances.

The sources suggested at that time that al-Shami was liquidated by leaders Another Houthi movement, where the Houthi leader had previously imposed a house arrest on him, and dismissed him by an unannounced decision.

The Houthi leader, Ahmad al-Hamzi, a son of Saada, was appointed as the commander of the Air Force, even though he had no military status. However, he received training in Iran and owed allegiance to it.

Sources confirmed to Al-Arabiya.net that Al-Hamzi was pushed to this site as a formally trusted official to facilitate the work of experts. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah, who supervise the assembly and smuggling of booby-trapped and drone aircraft from Iran, directing their targets, and training the Houthi elements on them.

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