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US says it blacklists Iranians for links to missile program

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin seen at a Senate hearing in Washington, DC, on May 22, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The United States Treasury Department has blacklisted five Iranian nationals for their alleged association with Iran’s ballistic missile program.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed in a statement on Tuesday that the targeted individuals had provided ballistic missile-related equipment and technical expertise to Yemen’s Houthi fighters on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

Mnuchin accused the individuals of enabling the Houthis to launch missiles at Saudi Arabia and its oil infrastructure.

The US Treasury secretary also claimed that the targeted individuals had disrupted humanitarian aid efforts in Yemen and threatened freedom of navigation in key regional waterways.

Iran has repeatedly denied accusations of providing ballistic missiles to Yemen's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is fighting a Saudi military aggression for more than three years.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015 in support of the country's resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights announced in a statement on March 25 that the Saudi-led war had left 600,000 civilians dead and injured until then.

In one of the deadliest air raids, Saudi warplanes last month targeted a wedding ceremony in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah several times, killing almost 50 people and wounding 55 others. Saudi jets also carried out raids on the ambulances transporting the casualties to local hospitals.

The Saudi-led countries engaged in the war on Yemen have also blockaded the already-impoverished country.

According to United Nations figures, a record 22.2 million people in Yemen are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.


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