Iran announces sanctions against US envoy to Yemen, cites pivotal role in humanitarian catastrophe

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has announced sanctions against US Ambassador to Yemen Christopher Henzel for his pivotal role in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the conflict-plagued, impoverished Arab country.   

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said that Tehran had put Henzel’s name on its blacklist, highlighting his role in Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.

The statement said the US envoy was involved in leading the destructive war, massacre of innocent and oppressed people, arms, financial and political support to the aggressor coalition, and the ongoing cruel and inhumane sanctions in Yemen while he playing a role in a “sinister scenario” of the disintegration of Yemen, as well as destructive measures to impede a political settlement of the Yemeni crisis and the consequent persistence of the humanitarian catastrophe in the country, which is described as the “greatest tragedy of the century.”

The ministry said that the US envoy was sanctioned based on a law titled “Countering America’s Human Rights Violation and Adventurous and Terrorist Actions” that was passed by the Iranian Parliament in 2017.

According to sufficient evidence at hand, the US ambassador to Yemen has played an instrumental role in organizing, financing, arming, directing and carrying out the actions of the aggressor coalition in Yemen, the statement added, highlighting his role in violating the fundamental principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, and in imposition of illegal US sanctions on the people of Yemen.