US Treasury sanctions Houthi pipeline for Russian arms and stolen Ukrainian grain

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a network of Houthi terrorist "financial facilitators and procurement operatives" who procured "tens of millions of dollars worth of commodities from Russia, including weapons, and stolen Ukrainian grain for onward shipment" to Yemen, the Treasury announced on Wednesday. The network was operating in coordination with Sa'id al-Jamal, a senior "Houthi financial official backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF)," the Treasury added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that "The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods to supply the group’s terrorist war machine," adding "Today’s action underscores our commitment to degrading the Houthis’ ability to threaten the region through their destabilizing activities."

"The Houthis have deployed missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and naval mines to attack commercial shipping interests in the Red Sea, threatening global freedom of navigation and the integrity of international commerce," Bessent added. "These indiscriminate attacks on civilian economic infrastructure, enabled and incentivized by the support of the Iranian regime, have resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and resulted in millions of dollars in damage to commercial shipping," he continued.   (Read More)