Today (Wednesday) America imposed sanctions on one individual and three companies that facilitated the purchase and smuggling of weapons on behalf of the Houthis, confirming in a statement on the website of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury (OFAC) that the arms suppliers enabled the Houthis to obtain materials and components. The dual-use capabilities needed to manufacture, maintain and deploy an arsenal of advanced missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles against the interests of the United States and its allies.

The statement indicated that OFAC is imposing sanctions on one entity and two ships linked to Houthi and Iranian illicit commercial shipments, including one that transported shipments for Houthi financial official Saeed al-Jamal and an affiliate of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.

The statement stated that Houthi elements in Iran operate a group of supply chains and smuggling networks to transport dual-use materials and other lethal aid to Houthi-controlled territories, based on the fact that the leader Hassan Ahmed Hassan Muhammad Al-Kahlani (Hassan Al-Kahlani), residing in Iran, facilitated The Houthis' efforts to smuggle weapons, so it was classified under sanctions.

Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley T. Smith, said: “The Houthis continue to take advantage of their networks of companies and procurement agents to continue their reckless attacks on civilian ships, their unarmed crews, and the civilian population,” explaining that the US Treasury is committed to disrupting the supply chain networks that enable The destabilizing activities of the Houthis.

While US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller vowed to continue targeting anyone who supports Houthi to destabilize the Middle East and harm civilian sailors.

The American decision was welcomed by a number of civil society organizations, including the Platform for Tracking Organized Crime and Money Laundering in Yemen (p.t.o.c), which said that Ahmed Hassan Al-Kahlani, nicknamed “Abu Shahid” and who was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Security and Intelligence Service for Houthi Foreign Affairs, was placed on a list Penalties for his involvement in weapons smuggling crimes to Yemen through complex smuggling networks.

The platform indicated that it had revealed in a previous report Al-Kahlani’s role and missions related to the external activities of the Houthi group, including the smuggling of weapons and fighters to and from the Horn of Africa region, in flagrant violation of international resolutions aimed at bringing peace to Yemen.

The platform considered the American decision to come within the framework of international efforts aimed at combating organized crime and money laundering, as Al-Kahlani is one of the leaders who directly contribute to prolonging the war and increasing the suffering of the Yemeni people, calling on the international community to take additional steps, including imposing strict sanctions on More leaders of the Houthi group involved in organized crimes and money laundering, which contribute to financing the war and fueling the conflict in Yemen, as the step taken by the US Treasury is important to enhance security and stability in Yemen and achieve justice for the victims of the war and Houthi criminal practices.

The US State Department designated the Houthi group on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on February 16, 2024 for committing terrorist acts