Treasury Department tries to blunt Houthi oil profits in latest round of sanctions
The move attempts to take money from the hands of Houthi fighters engaged in a brutal civil war in Yemen.
The Treasury Department said it imposed new sanctions last Tuesday on a network it believes helped Yemen’s Houthi militias move oil, acquire weapons and route payments tied to the group’s operations and attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthis, whose soldiers are based in Yemen and backed by Iran, have been engaged in a brutal civil war against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government since 2014. The Houthis are accused of committing widespread human rights abuses, as is Yemen’s government.
In this most recent action, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 21 people and companies– as well as one vessel– targeting what it called financial channels linking the Iranian government to the Houthis, formally known as Ansarallah. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move aims to “cut off” nearly two dozen actors involved in transferring oil, procuring weapons and providing financial services for the group in Yemen.
The action was taken under Executive Order 13224, a Bush-era directive allowing the White House to impose sanctions on perceived terrorist actors. The State Department labelled the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group in February 2024. A year later, the White House deepened the sanctions, designating the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which comes with more restrictions and legal ramifications for those who materially support them.
U.S. officials said the Houthis continue to generate substantial revenue through illicit oil activity—estimated at more than $2 billion a year—despite international sanctions. The Treasury Department accused Iran of supplying oil to the group, including through companies based in Dubai, and said UAE-based facilitators helped process payments via exchanges operating in Yemen and the Emirates.
Among the targets in this most recent round of sanctions were firms and individuals accused of supporting Houthi fuel imports and logistics, including a Sana’a, Yemen-linked trading company that OFAC said shipped communications gear, industrial materials and other equipment into Houthi-controlled areas. The Treasury Department also sanctioned an exchange house it said was used to finance weapons purchases and route payments for smuggling operations across the Red Sea region.
OFAC officials also accused Houthi-aligned operatives of trying to establish two Sana’a-based airlines to support smuggling and illicit revenue generation, including attempted aircraft procurement involving convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.