Houthi supporters protest against Israel in Sana’a, Yemen, on August 29. The Treasury Department levied sanctions on nearly two dozen Houthi individuals and companies Friday. File Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA
Jan. 16 (UPI) — The Trump administration levied new sanctions on Houthi-run organizations and individuals on Friday, targeting oil, weapons and financial interests operated by the Iran-backed group in Yemen.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 21 groups and individuals subject to the new sanctions, which are aimed at disrupting revenue generation and smuggling networks.
“The Houthis threaten the United States by committing acts of terror and attacking commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release announcing the sanctions.
“Treasury is taking action to cut off nearly two dozen individuals and entities involved in transferring oil, procuring weapons and providing financial services for this Iran-backed terrorist organization. Treasury will use all tools at its disposal to expose the networks and individuals enabling Houthi terrorism.”
Originally forming in the early 1990s, the Houthis are an Islamist political and military organization that opposed the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in the civil war, which began in 2014. The Houthis seek to take full control of Yemen and oppose the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel.
The Treasury Department’s new sanctions target what it describes as “key front companies” operating out of Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Named in the sanctions were Al Sharafi Oil Companies Services and Adeema Oil FZC, owned by Waleed Fathi Salam Baidhani and Arkan Mars Petroleum DMCC; Alsaa Petroleum and Shipping FZC, owned by Imran Asghar; Janat Al Anwar General Trading LLC; Zayd ‘Ali Ahmed al-Sharafi; and New Ocean Trading FZE.
Weapons smuggling operations named include Wadi Kabir Co. for Logistics Services; Rabya for Trading FZC, owned by Ameen Hamid Mohammed Dahan; and Al-Ridhwan Exchange and Transfer Company. Aviation companies include Barash Aviation and Cargo Company Limited, Sama Airline and businessman Adil Mutahhar Al Muayyad.
Maritime operations include Albarraq Shipping Co and its director, Ebrahim Ahmed Abdullah al-Matari; vessel ALBARRAQ Z and its captain, Ahmad Ismail; and captains Ahmad Adriss, Ahmad Bseis, Ranveer Singh and Alexander Yurovich Pshenichnyy.
