The U.S. Treasury Department designated three people, six companies and a vessel that it said are connected to procuring weapons for the Houthi terrorists.
“The Houthis’ continued, indiscriminate and reckless attacks against unarmed commercial vessels are made possible by their access to key components necessary for the production of their missiles and UAVs,” said Brian Nelson, U.S. under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. (Unmanned aerial vehicles are more commonly called drones.)
“The United States remains resolved to use the full range of our tools to halt the flow of military-grade materials and funds from commodities sales that enable these destabilizing terrorist activities,” Nelson stated.
The individuals and companies “have facilitated the shipment of commodities, the sale of which provides an important funding stream to the Houthis that aids in their weapons procurement,” the U.S. Treasury Department stated. “This action targets key actors who have enabled the Houthis to generate revenue and acquire a range of materials to manufacture the advanced weaponry they are now using to conduct ongoing terrorist attacks against commercial ships.”
The Houthis have used drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to attack ships and their crews in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023, “killing innocent civilians, causing severe damage to commercial ships and threatening global freedom of navigation,” per the Treasury Department.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Monday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud about the Houthi threat, according to Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman.
“The secretary expressed his grave concern about the recent Houthi detentions of U.N., diplomatic, and NGO staff, as well as their continued reckless attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” according to Miller.
Those sanctioned on Monday, per the Treasury Department, were: Ali Abd-al-Wahhab Muhammad al-Wazir and his China-based company Guangzhou Tasneem Trading Company Limited and the latter’s Hong Kong-based holding company Hong Kong-based Tasneem Trading Company; the Oman-based International Smart Digital Interface Limited Liability Company and its operator Muaadh Ahmed Mohammed al-Haifi; the Chinese companies Ningbo Beilun Saige Machine Co. and Dongguan Yuze Machining Tools Company Limited; and the Cameroon-flagged ship OTARIA, managed by the United Arab Emirates-based Stellar Wave Marine L.L.C., and its captain Vyacheslav Salyga.