WASHINGTON: The United States imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and entities for allegedly funneling tens of millions of dollars in foreign currency to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The US Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson said on Thursday funds provided by Iran From the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities have enabled recent attacks by the Houthis on commercial shipping in the Red Sea that endanger international trade.
The US Treasury said in a statement quoted Nelson as saying “The Houthis continue to receive funding and support from Iran, and the result is unsurprising: unprovoked attacks on civilian infrastructure and commercial shipping, disrupting maritime security and threatening international commercial trade,”
Washington has said that US warships have downed missiles and drones fired by the Houthi rebels although the Pentagon says it has not been clear that the American vessels were actually targeted.
US warships have also intercepted attacks on commercial ships that the US military says were linked to multiple nations.
The sanctions freeze all properties and interests in the United States of those targeted and generally prohibit Americans from conducting transactions with them.
The Treasury said that the targeted network involved Said Al-Jamal, a key “Iran-based Houthi financial facilitator,” and Bilal Hudroj, who runs a Lebanon-based exchange house, both of whom already are under US sanctions.
Jamal has for years used a web of exchange houses in Yemen and abroad to funnel the proceeds of Iranian commodity sales to the Houthis and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Treasury said, adding that Hudroj has assisted in the remittances to the Houthis.
The 13 entities and individuals hit in the latest sanctions include a jewelry shop and exchange house in Turkiye, the Treasury said, as well as exchange houses, shipping agents and individuals in St. Kitts and Nevis, Britain and Russia.