The U.S. Treasury under Secretary Scott Bessent sanctioned two people and five companies on Tuesday on accusations of being a Houthi petroleum smuggling network. File Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
July 23 (UPI) — The United States has blacklisted two Yemeni nationals and five companies on accusations of laundering money and importing petroleum products for the Houthi rebels.
The Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, work with privately owned companies to ensure continued shipments of petroleum products into areas of Yemen under their control. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Muhammad Al-Sunaydar, 38, and three companies his connected to, as well as Yahya Mohammed Al Wazir, 44, and two of his companies, for facilitating those petroleum product transactions.
“The Houthis collaborate with opportunistic businessmen to reap enormous profits from the importation of petroleum products and to enable the group’s access to the international financial system,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said in a statement.
“These networks of shady businesses underpin the Houthis’ terrorist machine, and Treasury will use all tools at its disposal to disrupt these schemes.”
The long proxy war between Iran and Israel exploded into the open on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas, another Iran-backed militia, attacked Israel. Israel responded by devastating the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have enforced a maritime blockade of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, attacking vessels, including U.S. military ships that transit the important trade route, in solidarity with the Palestinians, nearly 60,000 of whom have been killed by Israel.
The United States, under both the Biden and Trump administrations, has been hammering the Houthis with sanctions, seeking to corrode their ability to make war, with President Donald Trump re-designating the Iran-proxy militia as a foreign terrorist organization in January.
“The United States is committed to disrupting the Houthis’ illicit revenue generation by maintaining pressure on the financial facilitators that fuel the Houthi enterprise,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
“Today’s action builds on a series of measures targeting Houthi revenue generation and weapons procurement, reaffirming our resolve to counter terrorism, promote regional security and uphold freedom of navigation.”
