Ships pass through the Bosporus Strait near Istanbul, Turkey. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
The United States levied economic sanctions on an accused Iranian money launderer, along with two Afghans and two Russians, for helping Houthi militants in Yemen obtain millions of dollars of goods and weapons from Russia.
The Treasury Department case illustrates a web of operations including stolen Ukrainian grain shipments aboard a Russia-flagged, Chinese company’s cargo ship, the sales of which were used to support Houthi attacks on U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Middle East.
Russia-based Afghan businessmen Hushang Ghairat and Sohrab Ghairat helped senior Houthi financial officer Sa’id al-Jamal to acquire the stolen grain, weapons and sensitive goods, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.
Russian nationals Vyacheslav Vidanov and Yuri Belyakov helped ship the grain aboard the AM THESEUS, owned by a Hong Kong-based business, according to a Treasury Department statement. The vessel also is known as the ZAFAR.
Turkey-based Iranian national Hassan Jafari laundered the money for the Houthis, the Treasury Department said.
The sanctions against the men underscore the department’s commitment to degrade Houthi capabilities, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. He noted that the Houthis rely on al-Jamal and his financial and procurement network “to supply the group’s terrorist war machine.”
The destroyer USS Gravely launches Tomahawk missiles Jan. 12, 2024, in response to increased Houthi strikes in the Red Sea. The Houthi attacks, which began in November 2023, have been bolstered by a replenishable supply of sophisticated weapons from Iran and Russia. (Jonathan Word/U.S. Navy)
Based in Iran, al-Jamal is backed by the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and was sanctioned by the U.S. in June 2021, the department said.
Sanctions generally freeze any U.S.-based assets owned by the targeted individuals and companies. They also ban American citizens and businesses, such as banks, from working with them.
Houthi militants in Yemen have used anti-ship missiles and one-way aerial attack drones, among other weapons, in their strikes on military and civilian ships in the Red Sea. Those attacks, which began in November 2023, have been bolstered by a replenishable supply of sophisticated weapons from Iran and Russia.
While the U.S. has focused on Iran’s connections to the Houthis for good reasons, that attention may have obscured “some of the other actors that are now serving as proxies for the relationship between them, as well as allies to the Houthi themselves,” said Ian Ralby, a maritime law and security expert and founder of I.R. Consilium, a research and consulting firm.
For example, weapons are being shipped from Russian ports in the Black Sea, through the Bosporus and Dardanelles and into the Mediterranean Sea before eventually moving onward to Yemen, he said.
“The Iranians may be using the Russians to move weapons into Hodeida (in Yemen) and the Russians themselves are taking up an initiative in part because they gravitate towards the chaotic nature of the (Houthis),” Ralby said.
Russia also would like to have a presence in the Red Sea, including a port in Sudan, he added.
Open-source intelligence has long documented the transfer of Russian goods, including stolen Ukrainian grain, to Yemen. In a March 19 post on X, ship watcher Yoruk Isik videotaped AM THESEUS heading through Turkey’s Bosporus toward the Black Sea.
U.S. officials say Hushang Ghairat and Sohrab Ghairat, the two Afghan businessmen, also have helped the Houthis with commercial activities.
Three Russia-based businesses connected to Sohrab Ghairat and the company that owns AM THESEUS are part of the latest sanctions, according to the statement.
The crackdown on the Houthi financial and procurement network comes as the U.S. beefs up its presence in the Middle East amid escalating tensions with the Houthis and Iran.
The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on its way to join the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group already on duty in the Red Sea. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also has ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets to the region.
Meanwhile, at least six nuclear-capable B-2 bombers along with other aircraft have arrived at a U.S. base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Those actions come as the U.S. continues to pummel Houthi militants with airstrikes that began last month. The group said six people were killed in suspected U.S. strikes across the country on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported the same day.
Stars and Stripes reporter Lara Korte contributed to this report.
