New US Sanctions Imposed on Houthi Leaders and Entities, Including Central Bank Governor of Sana’a
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Thursday the imposition of sanctions on dozens of individuals, entities, and exchange companies for their role in “arms trafficking, money laundering, and the illegal shipment of Iranian oil to the Houthis.”
Among those sanctioned are key smuggling operatives, arms dealers, and shipping and financial facilitators who have enabled the Houthis to obtain a range of dual-use components and weapons and transport them, as well as generate revenue to support their destabilizing regional activities.
The U.S. sanctions included “five cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Houthi financial official Saeed al-Jamal (al-Jamal), who is supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and operates under the aliases “Khrpi,” “Ahmad Sa’idi,” and “Hisham,” among others.”
The sanctions also targeted “Hashem Ismail Ali Ahmed al-Madani,” the governor of the Houthi-controlled central bank branch in Sana’a, who is a key figure in the Houthi group and the main overseer of funds sent to the group from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. He has cooperated with the Houthi financial official supported by the IRGC-Quds Force, al-Jamal, to conduct commercial activities on behalf of the Houthis, according to the decision.
The sanctions also included “Ahmed Mohammed Mohammed Hassan al-Hadi,” who, according to the U.S. Treasury, is a senior financial official in the group and coordinates and facilitates the movement of its funds, and has ordered other Houthi financial officials, including al-Jamal, to transfer funds to the group and tasked them with distributing funds to Houthi officials and other individuals in Yemen.
The U.S. sanctions also included “Mohammed Ali al-Thor for Exchange” (Thor Exchange), which, under the supervision of the U.S.-designated Houthi financial official Abdullah al-Jamal, Thor Exchange brought millions of dollars on behalf of al-Jamal’s network to Yemen to enable money laundering operations with the IRGC-QF, according to the U.S. Treasury decision.
Similarly, the Treasury imposed sanctions on “Khalid al-Hazemi” and his company “Al-Hazemi Exchange,” which it said, by transferring funds to al-Jamal’s U.S.-designated company Davos Exchange and Transfers (Davos Exchange) in early 2024, covered the assets of the sanctioned Davos Exchange and helped al-Jamal’s network evade sanctions.
The decision targeted Houthi leaders residing in Yemen and others in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), who the U.S. Treasury indicated have played critical roles in facilitating the movement of weapons and dual-use components to and from Yemen, including “Wael Mohammed Saeed Abdul Wadood,” a Houthi logistics official who participated in facilitating Houthi smuggling operations, and “Omar Ahmed Omar Ahmed al-Haj,” a Houthi logistics official who, along with Abdul Wadood, facilitated Houthi smuggling activities through Somalia, according to the decision.
It pointed out that these leaders benefit from a range of shipping companies with offices in Yemen and China to transport illicit purchases to Houthi fighters, and among these companies is “Safwan Dubai for Shipping and Trading (Safwan Dubai),” a Yemeni-based shipping and logistics company used by Houthi procurement officials to import dual-use materials and other weapons components to Yemen, while “Safwan Dubai” maintains a presence in the People’s Republic of China, where it is likely used to obscure shipments of weapons to Houthi forces.
The sanctions also targeted shipping companies in Malaysia that the Treasury said provide critical services to vessels transporting goods for the Houthis, including Blue Shipping and Tevkas Marine, where the latter provides services to the U.S.-sanctioned vessel Reniz (IMO 9232450), which has transported tens of thousands of metric tons of Iranian goods for al-Jamal’s network.
Among the sanctioned companies is “Mercur Energy,” which acted as a port agent for another U.S.-designated vessel that also transported Iranian goods for al-Jamal’s network.
The U.S. sanctions come amid the group’s continued escalation in international waters in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, under the pretext of supporting Gaza.
