U.S. Announces New Sanctions on Houthi, Hizballah Financial Networks
The US is imposing sanctions for "their involvement in illicit revenue generation to support the Houthis’ destabilizing activities,” Patel said, and for Hizballah's role in shipping "Iranian liquefied petroleum gas valued at tens of millions of dollars."
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – On Thursday, the U.S. State and Treasury Departments announced new sanctions for networks that help fund two designated terrorist groups—Yemen’s Houthis and Lebanon’s Hizballah—through the smuggling of Iranian energy products.
“The United States is imposing sanctions on one individual and six companies, and blocking three vessels, for their involvement in illicit revenue generation to support the Houthis’ destabilizing activities,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel announced in a written statement.
Patel tied the newly sanctioned individual and entities to the Houthi Financier, Sa’id al-Jamal, who is based in Iran and works with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF.) Jamal was first sanctioned in 2021. Subsequently, the U.S. imposed two more sets of sanctions related to him.
Thus, Thursday’s sanctions mark the fourth such set of penalties.
Patel made a similar statement regarding new sanctions on Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal, a senior figure in Lebanese Hizballah, and his network.
Bazzal was first sanctioned in 2018. Subsequently, the Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is run by the State Department, issued a reward of “up to $10 million for information that leads to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Hizballah,” as RFJ announced.
RFJ’s announcement identified Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal as “a key Hizballah official whose responsibilities include balancing the financial accounting between Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.”
On a third front, recently emerged that pro-Iranian militias in Iraq were using a similar scheme to fund their own activities. The scheme—whether carried out by the Houthis, Hizballah, or the Iraqi militias—is based on the illicit acquisition of oil at a cheap price, or even without payment, and then its resale at market rates.
In the case of Iraq, the pro-Iranian militias were able to acquire oil from the Iraqi government by inflating the capacities of asphalt plants. That allowed them to get the oil at a highly subsidized price, and they then resold it on the commercial market. Recently, the Iraqi government has moved to stop that practice.
Read More: Baghdad Moves to Curb Oil Smuggling by Iran-Backed Militias: Report
New Sanctions on Network of Houthi Financier, Sa’id al-Jamal
One individual was named in the new sanctions announced on Thursday a 54 year-old Indian national, Arif Ibrahim Khot. Khot is the captain of one of the three newly sanctioned vessels in the Houthi network: the Raha Gas, an LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) tanker.
In addition, six companies were sanctioned. Three of them are shipping companies registered in the Marshall Islands, a small group of islands and coral atolls in the Western Pacific. The Marshall Islands, which acquired independence from the U.S. in 1979, has is a tiny population—just 53,000 people.
It would seem that one way the Marshall Islands earns money is by allowing such companies to establish a presence on their territory. Otherwise, it has no evident interest in the politics and strife of the Middle East.
Two UAE companies were also sanctioned on Thursday: KFD General Trading L.L.C. in Dubai and ONX Trading, with offices in both Dubai and Sharjah.
In addition, a Malaysian company, Transmarine Navigation, was sanctioned for providing fraudulent documents that helped disguise Iranian exports as exports from Malaysia.
New Sanctions on Hizballah Network
“The United States is also sanctioning one company and blocking four of its vessels tied to Hizballah official Muhammed Qasim al-Bazzal and the shipment of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas valued at tens of millions of dollars,” Vedant Patel stated in announcing the new sanctions.
Kai Heng Long Global Energy Limited, the designated company, is based in Hong Kong. It owns four ships that transport Iranian LPG, all of which were designated on Thursday.