Washington sanctions illicit Houthi shipping network

The US Department of the Treasury (DoT) has sanctioned several individuals, vessels, and maritime companies for allegedly facilitating illicit commodity trade to support the financing of the Houthis.

PHOTO: The US flag. Getty Images

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned entities and companies that have provided financial support to the Iran-aligned Houthi militants through its facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal, a Yemini financier allegedly linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Sa’id al-Jamal's business network “provided tens of millions of dollars in revenue to the Houthis in Yemen through its shipment of Iranian commodities, including oil, a funding stream underpinning the Houthis’ ongoing attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” OFAC argues.

The US department has sanctioned three Panama-flagged vessels, WANJI, OCEANIC II, and TIREX for shipping illicit commodities to the UAE on behalf of Jamal’s network, according to the US DoT. These vessels are managed by Marshall Islands-registered and UAE-based Barco Ship Management.

The OFAC sanctioned two more vessels and its managers on similar grounds.

Another company that was added to the sanctions list was Seychelles-registered and Thailand-based Ascent General Insurance Company. It provided insurance to vessels that were already sanctioned by the US DoT.

“Today’s action underscores our focus on disrupting the Houthis’ sprawling network of financial facilitators, shell companies, and vessels, that enables the primary source of funding for the group’s destabilizing activities,” under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson said.

The US body also sanctioned two individuals, Indonesia-based Mohammad Roslan Bin Ahmad and Chinese national Zhuang Liang, for facilitating illicit shipments and engaging in money laundering on behalf of Jamal’s network.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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