March 7 (UPI) — As the Houthis claimed its first deaths in its Red Sea attacks, the Biden administration targeted its revenue sources, blacklisting a pair of ships and their operators involved in a sprawling network that benefits the Iran proxy militia.
The Treasury has been targeting the Houthis with sanctions since Nov. 17 when the Iran-backed militia began attacking commercial as well as U.S. and British military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The rebels claim the attacks are in support of the Palestinian people amid Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, another Iran proxy militia.
Many of those sanctions have targeted the illicit sanctions evasion network of Iran-based Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal. The Biden administration has said his network generates tens of millions of dollars through the sale of Iranian commodities, such as petroleum, with a significant portion of the revenue reaching the Houthis. A-Jamal was first sanctioned by the United States 2021.
On Wednesday, the Treasury sanctioned the Palau-flagged Reneez vessel and its Marshall Islands-based owner Reneez Shipping Limit for having transported tens of thousands of metric tons of Iranian commodities for al-Jamal’s network.
The second vessel blacklisted Tuesday was identified as the Panama-flagged Eternal Fortune.
The Treasury said Eternal Fortune had been involved in a ship-to-ship transfer with another Panama-flagged vessel, Artura, which the U.S. designated on Feb. 27 for having been involved in a similar at-sea transfer on Jan. 12 as part of al-Jamal’s sanctions evasion scheme.
Eternal Fortune’s owner, Hong Kong-based Hongkong Unitop Group LTD., was also sanctioned.
“Revenue generated through al-Jamal’s network enables Houthi militant efforts, including ongoing attacks on international maritime commerce in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“The consequences of these attacks are felt far beyond the region, and the United States will continue to use all available measures to disrupt the funding streams that enable these destabilizing activities.”
The sanctions came on the same day a Houthi attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned True Confidence merchant vessel killed three crew and injured four others, three critically.
The Houthis have hit several vessels during their months of attacks, but Wednesday’s strike resulted in the first reported deaths.
The Biden administration has conducted small- and large-scale attacks in response to the Houthis’ aggression in its long-term strategy to deter and degrade the militants’ abilities to continue striking ships in the region.
The sanctions strike at its funding.
“The Houthis continue to rely on the illicit sale of commodities to finance their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.
“The United States remains resolved to hold accountable those who enable these destabilizing activities.”
