Yemeni gov't urges banks to relocate headquarters to Aden

ADEN, Yemen, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni government on Thursday called on all Yemeni banks to immediately relocate their headquarters to the temporary capital, Aden, so as to stay away from the control of the Houthi group.

"We call on all Yemeni businessmen ... to halt any direct or indirect financial or commercial dealings with the Houthi militia," Yemeni Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar al-Eryani wrote on social media platform X, adding that continued cooperation with the Houthi group could expose them to "international sanctions."

Al-Eryani's call came as the U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday that it is sanctioning Sanaa-based International Bank of Yemen Y.S.C. for "its financial support to" the Houthi group, which the U.S. State Department on March 4 designated as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization," under an order announced by President Donald Trump upon taking office in January.

In May 2024, the Central Bank of Yemen suspended dealings with six major commercial banks in the country due to their failure to relocate from the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa to Aden and their cooperation with the militia. However, the decision was canceled later following external mediation.

On March 15, the central bank said several Yemeni banks headquartered in Sanaa had decided to relocate their operations to Aden to avoid U.S. sanctions on the Houthi group.

In a separate development, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) said in a statement that it struck and destroyed the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa on Thursday, "to eliminate this source of fuel for" and "degrade the economic source of power of" the Houthis.

A Yemeni local government official told Xinhua that more than five strikes hit the port and partially destroyed it.

In mid-March, Trump ordered the U.S. military to launch "decisive and powerful military action" against the Houthis, after the latter announced their plans to resume attacks on Israeli ships in the Red Sea, citing Israel's blockade of aid to Gaza. ■