The United States announced new sanctions on Thursday against a network of individuals and companies that financially support the Houthis, a group of rebels based in Yemen that has exchanged gunfire with U.S. warships in the Red Sea in recent weeks, but U.S. military officials have expressed reluctance to launch a counterattack and risk escalating the war between Israel and Hamas into a regional conflict.
Key Facts
The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it will impose sanctions on 13 individuals and companies linked to Houthi financier based in Iran, Said al-Jamal, who uses commodity sales to fund the Houthis through a network of intermediaries and homes in several countries.
The sanctioned entities and individuals will be barred from doing business in the United States and their U.S. bank accounts and properties will be frozen.
The sanctions come after the U.S. shot down at least four Houthi drones in the Red Sea over the past week, as the faction targets commercial vessels that it claims are linked to Israel and fires missiles toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas, which it supports according to its slogan “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, and Victory to Islam,” according to Reuters.
The Houthis
The Houthis are a Shiite revolutionary group that emerged in the 1990s and have been fighting the Yemeni government for nearly 20 years, seizing large parts of the country, including the capital Sana’a in 2014.
Iran and the Houthis share a common interest in opposing Saudi Arabia – Iran is involved in a proxy war with the Saudis in its quest for regional influence, while the Saudis support Yemen in its civil war against the Houthis.
Critical Quote
“We certainly have every reason to believe they are able to do so thanks to Iran,” said National Security spokesman John Kirby on Thursday, questioning Iran’s denial of involvement in recent attacks. “As National Security Advisor [Jake Sullivan] said just two days ago, ‘It’s the Houthis firing, and Iran is supplying them with the weapons.’”
Main Background
The U.S. warship Mason shot down a Houthi drone in the Red Sea on Wednesday that was heading toward the warship. This incident follows a similar attack by the Houthis on Sunday, when the warship Carney shot down three drones in response to a distress call from the civilian commercial ship flying the Bahamian flag, United Explorer, one of three vessels targeted by missiles from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. Neither Carney nor Mason sustained damage, and no crew members were injured. It is unclear whether the drones were intentionally launched at U.S. ships, but the Houthis confirmed that their main targets in the Red Sea are vessels linked to Israel. In one of its most prominent aggressive maritime actions in response to the Israel-Hamas war, the Houthis seized a cargo ship, Captain Planet, alleging it was linked to an Israeli billionaire, and are holding the ship and crew in the port of Hodeidah. U.S. military leaders said they are considering a range of responses to the attacks, including establishing a maritime task force, but did not specify whether counterattacks are on the table. Pentagon officials have expressed hesitation about this idea for fear it could engage Iran in a broader regional conflict.
What to Watch For
Whether the U.S. will reclassify the Houthis again as a foreign terrorist organization. Kirby said the Biden administration is considering imposing the designation after the group seized the Captain Planet last month. The administration removed the Houthis’ designation as a terrorist organization, which was imposed by former President Donald Trump’s administration and took effect one day before he left office, in 2021, citing “the devastating impact on the Yemeni people’s access to essential goods such as food and fuel.”
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