US sanctions vessels for shipping oil for Houthi network
Washington has sanctioned eight vessels and several maritime companies for facilitating illicit oil transport on behalf of previously sanctioned Houthi financer Sa’id al-Jamal’s network.
PHOTO: A crude oil tanker at the sea. Getty Images
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned the vessels that have facilitated the transport of crude oil and oil products on behalf of Jamal’s network, which is backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
“The revenue from al-Jamal’s network continues to enable Houthi attacks in the region, including missile and unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] attacks on Israel and commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea,” OFAC argued.
The US treasury department has sanctioned the Panama-flagged crude oil tanker KAPOK, for transporting “over a million barrels of crude oil, worth tens of millions of dollars.” The vessel is owned by Marshall Islands-registered Changtai Shipping.
The latest US sanctions list includes seven more vessels, such as the Cook Islands-flagged MARBEL, TROPHY and ONYX, for facilitating such shipments, OFAC said. OFAC has also sanctioned two vessel captains for loading sanctioned oil cargo on behalf of al-Jamal’s network.
“The MARBEL, TROPHY, and [Palau-flagged] LIANA have all been linked to illicit Iranian oil shipments,” OFAC added.
UAVs are drones that the Yemen-based Houthi militants have been using to attack commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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