The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on a smuggling network that it said was helping fund Yemen's Houthi rebels. The designations come as Biden administration mulls whether to re-designate the entire Iran-backed group as a foreign terrorist organization.
According to Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sanctioned network is led by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal, who himself was sanctioned in June 2021. Al-Jamal’s network has allegedly transferred tens of millions of dollars to Yemen through a web of front companies and vessels that smuggle fuel, petroleum and other commodities throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia.