Washington: Washington announced new sanctions Friday on two companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, moving to crack down on the financial network funding Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.

The US Treasury Department said the firms had shipped Iranian commodities on behalf of a Huthi financial facilitator's network and that the "the revenue from the commodity sales supports the Houthis and their continued attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden." - AFP