The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two individuals and five entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for Yemen's Houthi rebel group. OFAC is also designating one individual and one company, as well as identifying one vessel, that have facilitated the shipment of commodities, the sale of which provides an important funding stream to the Houthis that aids in their weapons procurement.
OFAC said 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. Since November 2023, the Houthis have deployed a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles to attack merchant vessels and their crews in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, killing innocent civilians, causing severe damage to commercial ships, and threatening global freedom of navigation.
Today's action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority Executive Order (EO) 13224, as amended. The US Department of State designated the Houthi militia as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to EO 13224, as amended, effective February 16, 2024, for having committed or attempted to commit, posing a significant risk of committing, or having participated in training to commit acts of terrorism.
The Cameroon-flagged tanker Otaria, which is managed by UAE-based Stellar Wave Marine and captained by Vyacheslav Salyga, loaded commodities associated with Houthi financier Sa'id al-Jamal in late May 2024 to be discharged in Singapore. Otaria is currently carrying a cargo of commodities worth tens of millions of dollars. OFAC designated Sa'id al-Jamal pursuant to EO 13224, as amended, on June 10, 2021, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF).
Stellar Wave Marine and Vyacheslav Salyga are being designated pursuant to EO 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sa'id al-Jamal. Otaria is being identified pursuant to EO 13224, as amended, as property in which Stellar Wave Marine has an interest.
All property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorised by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all transactions by US persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.
In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
