The clash between the West and the Yemeni Houthis has been heating up for some time in the Red Sea region. The Yemen based Houthis backed by Iran have been wrecking havoc on the trade routes in the area and the West has been struggling to manage them. However now it has also been reveled that the Houthis have been supplied with weapons and other equipments by Russia based entities. In response the US has imposed sanctions on these Russian networks working in an attempt to control the growing Houthi influence.
The operatives, who included Russia-based Afghan businessman Hushang Ghairat and his brother, Russia-based Afghan businessman Sohrab Ghairat, helped senior Houthi official Sa’id al-Jamal, procure millions of dollars worth of commodities from Russia for shipment to Houthi-controlled Yemen, Treasury says.
The goods included weapons and sensitive goods, as well as stolen Ukrainian grain, “The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods to supply the group’s terrorist war machine,” says US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Today’s action underscores our commitment to degrading the Houthis’ ability to threaten the region through their destabilizing activities.”
The United States has imposed sanctions on financial facilitators, procurement operatives, and companies operating as part of a global illicit finance network supporting the Houthis. The State Department said that in coordination with Iran-backed Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal, the network of actors has procured millions of dollars of commodities from Russia, including weapons, dual-use materials, and stolen Ukrainian grain, for shipment to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.
Those designated include two Russia-based Afghan businessmen who assisted Sa’id al-Jamal in orchestrating shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain from Crimea to Yemen. Hushang Ghairat and his brother Sohrab Ghairat have assisted Sa’id al-Jamal with Houthi commercial initiatives in Russia, including arms procurement. In the summer and fall of 2024, they orchestrated at least two shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain from Crimea to Yemen on board the Russia-flagged ship AM Theseus.
Hong Kong-based AM Asia M6 Ltd, which is the registered owner of AM Theseus, its Russian captains Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Vidanov and Yuri Vladimirovich Belyakov, and three Russia-based companies owned by Sohrab have been targeted by the sanctions.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it has identified eight digital asset wallets used by the Houthis to transfer funds associated with their activities. The Houthis have deployed missiles, drones and naval mines to attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening global freedom of navigation and the integrity of international commerce. These indiscriminate attacks on civilian economic infrastructure, with the support of the Iranian regime, have resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and millions of dollars worth of damage to commercial shipping.
