ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Department of the Treasury on Thursday said it designated three entities and one individual responsible for facilitating the flow of Iranian financial support to Houthi forces in Yemen and their “destabilizing activities,” through US-designated network linked to a Houthi financier.
The move comes amid the Red Sea crisis as Yemen’s Houthis, a pro-Iran militia in control of most of the country, including its capital Sana’a, has vowed to target all ships on the way to Israel in the Bab al-Mandab strait, disrupting a key trade route, in support of Palestinians under attack of Israeli forces in Gaza.
The individual designated as a facilitator of the transfer of Iranian funds to the Houthis is the head of the Currency Exchangers Association in Sana’a, while the three entities are exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey.
The designated legal persons are part of a financial network linked to Iran-based Houthi financier Sa’id al Jamal, designated in 2021 “or having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of” the US-designated Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp Quds Force (IRGC-QF).
As a result of this move, all assets and property belonging to the specified legal persons, “that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons,” are frozen and must be disclosed to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Furthermore, any organizations that are owned, whether directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, by 50 percent or more by one or more individuals subject to asset blocking are also subject to the same restrictions.
Moreover, legal persons and financial institutions who are found to engage in the “contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person,” or the receipt of any of the latter, might also be subject to sanctions or an enforcement action.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson stated that the action underscores the US’ “resolve to restrict the illicit flow of funds to the Houthis, who continue to conduct dangerous attacks on international shipping and risk further destabilizing the region.”
Nelson added that “The United States, along with our allies and partners, will continue to target the key facilitation networks that enable the destabilizing activities of the Houthis and their backers in Iran.”
