American Sanctions Imposed on Foreign Citizens for Supporting Houthi Rebels with Iranian Oil Trade Financing

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on July 18 against several foreign nationals and entities allegedly involved in an Iran-linked network accused of generating revenue for Houthis in Yemen.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the sanctions aimed to disrupt the network of alleged Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal and its “destructive activities” in the region. Mr. Miller said the network has served as the funding stream for the Houthis’ ongoing attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.

The U.S. government sanctioned Sa’id al-Jamal in June 2021 for allegedly smuggling Iranian petroleum and other commodities into the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said his network used the revenue from these sales to fund “destabilizing regional activities” of the Houthis and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.

OFAC said Sa’id al-Jamal’s network provided “tens of millions of dollars” in revenue to the Houthi terrorist group.

The Iranian-backed Houthi group has been targeting international shipments with drone and missile attacks in retaliation for the Israeli military operation against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.

The sanctions also targeted China-based Chinese national Zhuang Liang, who was accused of money laundering and other finance-related schemes for the network, as well as providing a sanctioned Houthi affiliate with access to the international financial system.

OFAC sanctioned Mohammad Roslan Bin Ahmad, a Malaysian and Singaporean national based in Indonesia, for allegedly facilitating the network’s illicit shipments to Malaysia and brokering vessels for illegal Russian and Venezuelan trade.

Among sanctioned entities are Thailand-and-Singapore-based Ascent General Insurance Company, for allegedly providing insurance to vessels labeled as “blocked property,” and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Fornacis Energy Trading, for allegedly buying and shipping Iranian cargo for the network.

Barco Ship Management and Sea Knot Shipping—both of which are Marshall Islands-registered companies—were also sanctioned for their alleged roles in managing vessels used in the network’s illicit shipments.

OFAC sanctioned UAE-based Alpha Shine Marine Services for allegedly managing a ship used by the network for illicit trade under forged shipping documents.

The sanctions also targeted five vessels used by the network for illicit shipments.

“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 for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in July 18 statement.

The State Department designated the Houthis (also known as Ansarallah) as a terrorist group earlier this year.