Gulf Insistence Leads To US Driven Sanctions On Houthi Rebel Funding Firms
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Roshan Amiri
- . February 24, 2022
- . Update: February 25, 2022 3:00 pm
Those funding the Houthi rebels in Yemen have been severely sanctioned by the US Treasury department, on the insistence of some Middle Eastern countries. This was specifically a smuggling network. Post this, the US is actually contemplating blacklisting the whole organization that has been transferring tens and millions of dollars to Yemeni Houthi rebels.
Smuggling comprises fuel, petroleum and other commodities throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia through a fictious web of companies that act as a forefront of running this kind of business. The proceeds were being used to fund terrorist activities of the Houthi rebels. The sanctioned network is led by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal, who himself was sanctioned in June 2021.
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According to US Treasury Department, the sanctioning of 13 individuals, entities and a vessel are all linked to al-Jamal’s network was done in “close coordination and collaboration with regional Gulf partners,” the department said in a statement. Al-Jamal’s network is aided by Abdi Nasir Ali Mahamud, who operates in Turkey; Abdo Abdullah Dael Ahmed, who operates in the Gulf and Sweden; and Greek businessman Konstantinos Stavridis. A Turkey-based company, Garanti Ihracat Ithalat Kuyumculuk Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, was also named in the sanctions, with the Treasury Department saying it “has facilitated millions of dollars’ worth of transactions for Al Jamal, including transfers in support of oil shipments to China and Syria”.
Funding has encouraged the group to increase its attack over those countries that have been trying to push back the Houthis from Yemen. In a formal media statement, the US Treasury said that, “Despite persistent calls for peace from the international community, the Houthis continue their destructive campaign inside Yemen and have repeatedly launched ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that have struck civilian infrastructure in neighbouring states, resulting in civilian casualties.”
