Crime & Justice
Sanctions keep pressure on IRGC's financial pipeline to Yemen's Houthis
A new round of US sanctions targets an Iranian oil funding network that has enabled the Houthis' arms trafficking and their Red Sea attacks.
![A suicide drone recovered from Yemen is displayed in Washington on December 14, 2017. [Jim Watson/AFP]](/gc3/images/2024/12/30/48631-yemen-drone-2017-370_237.webp)
By Pishtaz |
The United States on December 19 sanctioned 12 operatives and companies accused of funneling Iranian funds to Yemen's Houthis through illicit oil shipments, arms trafficking and money laundering.
The move targets a financial network backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) that sustains Houthi operations and destabilizes international maritime commerce, the US Treasury said.
The sanctions follow Houthi attacks on more than 100 commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea since November 2023, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
At the center of the financial web is governor of the Houthi-controlled central bank in Sanaa, Hashem al-Madani, who manages millions in IRGC-QF transfers.
His 2020 appointment by the Houthis' Supreme Political Council highlights Tehran's financial control over the militia, the Treasury said.
Senior Houthi financial coordinator Ahmed al-Hadi also is facing sanctions for overseeing critical fund transfers.
Two Yemeni financial entities, Al Thawr Exchange and Al Hazmi Exchange have been blacklisted for laundering Iranian funds.
Al Thawr operated under sanctioned financier Abdullah al-Jamal, while Al Hazmi used the previously designated Davos Exchange as cover.
Cryptocurrency transactions
The Treasury also identified five cryptocurrency wallets associated with previously sanctioned IRGC-QF-backed Houthi financial facilitator Said al-Jamal.
Al-Jamal runs a smuggling network involving arms, oil and cryptocurrency transactions between Iran and Yemen.
He generates revenue for the Houthis through the illicit sale of Iranian petroleum to customers in East Asia, enabled by a network of shipping firms in Malaysia that provide critical services to ships transporting this cargo.
Three Malaysian shipping firms -- Blu Shipping, Tefcas Marine and Merkur Energy Port Services -- are facing sanctions for servicing al-Jamal's smuggling fleet.
Merkur Energy's owner Puvaneswaran Venayagamoorthy and operations head Ezekial Kanniappan Jr were specifically named.
Also facing sanctions is Yemen-based Safwan al-Dubai Company, which has Chinese connections and allegedly imports weapons components.
Arms traffickers Wail Muhammad Abd-al-Wadud and Umar Ahmad Hajj were censured for coordinating weapons transfers through Somalia.
The move "underscores our commitment to leveraging all our tools to disrupt the Houthis' efforts to acquire weapons, procure dual-use components, and secure additional revenue," said Treasury official Bradley Smith.
Iranian oil revenue supports not only the Houthis but also the Iranian regime's broader proxy network and its nuclear and missile programs, the Treasury said.
Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani welcomed the measures.
"These steps confirm the seriousness and credibility of the United States in combating terrorism, drying up its funding sources, and applying real pressure on the Houthis to abandon their terrorist approach," he said.
As "an Iranian arm," the Houthis threaten regional stability and are "a major factor in the continuation of war and terrorism in Yemen and the region," he said.
It was absolutely informative and interesting.
Write about the Los Angeles fires.
Yemen only attacks ships going to Israel in support of the Palestinian people. It is Israel that has destabilized the region and assassinated anyone it wants, with the support of the United States, from Iranian scientists to Palestinian fighters. It is Israel that has occupied the countries of the region. An example of this is the occupation of Syria and the bombing of its infrastructure. It is the United States that has occupied Iraq and Syria and plundered their oil. Then, if the Iraqi youth stood up to them and resisted the American occupation, they would be called terrorists.
Then it is the practice of the enemies of Islam and even the lowly rulers of Iran, may God curse them.
Our government men consider themselves All-knowing people but they do not know the six singular and plural Persian sentences. Forty years have passed since the un-Islamic revolution, but.... I.. you.. he.. we.. you... them.. I don't know why. The first person plural is ours. They say plural of plurals. Now our scientist is giving a speech on the news network at exactly five fifty. He is discussing Syria and its developments.. The word ours itself is plural.. He uses a plural of plurals and it is wrong in Persian literature. He is talking... May God help us. Now we, the nation, have taken our destiny into whose hands…Our national currency is still Tomans … We are all illiterate and stupid and bewitched, the American has the right to rule us..
Death to criminal America and adulterous England. O Allah, uproot the enemies of Islam and destroy them. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds.
America is the great devil collaborating with the old fox, England. They do not see anyone above themselves. They only consider the world under their control.. and the plundering of countries and the oppression of weak nations as their pride.. and they want to be the masters of the world... which is unacceptable to any nation. The insecurity of the world is due to these demons. These two are far from others and no one has anything to do with their good or bad and do not bother them, but they sharpen their teeth to plunder, nations have the right to defend their homes and property. Death, death to the oppressors of the world.