Oct. 2 (UPI) — The United States Wednesday imposed sanctions on what the Treasury Department said are Houthi weapons smuggling and procurement networks with operatives and suppliers in Iran and China.
The sanctions include two ships and one entity allegedly involved in enabling the Yemen-based Houthis to get dual-use items needed to maintain and deploy weapons used against U.S. and allied interests.
Sanctioned were Chinese-based Shenzhen Boyu Imports and Exports Co., Limited, Shenzhen Jinghon Electronics Limited and Shenzhen Rion Technology Co., Ltd.
The Gabon-flagged Izumo ship and the Cook Islands-flagged oil tanker Frunze were sanctioned for allegedly transporting petroleum products for the sanctioned Iranian Armed Forces General Staff and a front company it uses.
Treasury said the ships are owned, managed and operated by the Marshall-Islands-registered Gemini Marine Limited
Iran-based operative Hasan Ahmad Hasan Muhammad al-Kuhlani was sanctioned for allegedly facilitating Houthi weapons smuggling efforts. He is accused of coordinated work to conceal and transport lethal aid from Iran to the Houthis.
“The Houthis continue to leverage their networks of companies and procurement operatives to sustain their reckless attacks on civilian vessels, their unarmed crews, and civilian populations,” said the Treasury Department’s Bradley T. Smith in a statement. “Treasury remains committed to using our full suite of tools to disrupt the supply chain networks that enable the Houthis’ destabilizing activities.”
Treasury said the Houthis use a network of international shipping and logistics companies to get weapons and weapon components.
In July Treasury sanctioned what it described as Houthi weapon procurement networks in Hong Kong and Yemen.