Washington imposes new sanctions targeting the Houthi financial network in Yemen

On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on two individuals and five Houthi entities in Yemen, in addition to classifying five ships as prohibited property.

This step came after the United States confirmed that the Houthis receive huge revenues from the illegal shipment of Iranian goods through these individuals and entities. This flow of funding enables the Houthis to launch continuous attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and its surrounding waterways.

A statement issued by the US State Department spokesman indicated that these measures aim to disrupt the network run by Saeed Al-Jamal, who finances the Houthis and their destructive activities in the region.

The statement explained that these targets form part of a multi-faceted network of illicit operations, ranging from clients and facilitators to insurance providers, ships and ship management companies.

The US State Department statement concluded, "We will continue to use all available tools to disrupt the funding flows that enable the Houthis to continue their destabilizing activity in the region."

On June 17, the United States announced the imposition of sanctions on “key actors” in response to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which threaten global freedom of navigation.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, "We classified 3 individuals and 6 entities that facilitated the purchase of weapons for the Houthis. We also classified one ship owned by one of the entities on which sanctions were imposed, and we considered it prohibited property."

The US State Department spokesman stressed Washington's commitment to using "the tools available to us to obstruct the flow of military materials to Yemen, which enables the Houthis to launch these terrorist attacks."

He pointed out that "Houthi attacks against unarmed commercial ships continue to obstruct navigation in a vital waterway."

Al-Hurra's correspondent pointed out that "the sanctions include parties based in China that enabled the Houthis to generate revenues and obtain a set of materials necessary to manufacture advanced weapons."

Since November, the Houthi rebels have launched dozens of attacks with missiles and drones on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, which they consider to be linked to Israel or heading to its ports. They say that this comes in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in light of the war that has been ongoing since the seventh of last October.

Washington leads an international maritime coalition with the aim of “protecting” maritime navigation in this strategic region, through which 12% of global trade passes.

Source: Al Hurra