Washington targets financial backer of the Houthis

Hours after deploying stealth bombers to target Houthi weapons caches across Yemen, the US yesterday announced more sanctions designed to stymie access to capital for the militant group waging a campaign against merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 

The department of the treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 18 companies, individuals, and vessels claiming they had ties to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)-backed Houthi financial official Sa’id al-Jamal and his network. Included in this action are the captains of vessels transporting illicit oil as well as the companies that managed and operated these ships. 

“The revenue from al-Jamal’s network continues to enable Houthi attacks in the region, including missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks on Israel and commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea,” OFAC stated in a release. 

“The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal’s international network and affiliated facilitators to transport and sell Iranian oil, continuing their campaign of violence,” said acting under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence Bradley Smith. 

US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted multiple airstrikes on numerous Houthi weapons storage facilities in Yemen early yesterday morning.

CENTCOM forces, including stealth bombers, targeted the Houthi’s hardened underground facilities housing missiles, weapons components, and other munitions used to target military and civilian vessels throughout the region.

More than 120 vessels have been targeted by the Houthis in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in their 11-month campaign against merchant shipping in support of Hamas and their ongoing war with Israel.