The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran and Houthi-related entities, according to the Treasury Department website which listed a number of individuals, companies and vessels that had been targeted.
The sanctions target three vessels involved in the trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals, which generate billions of dollars for Iran's leaders, the Treasury said, supporting its nuclear program, development of ballistic missiles and financing of proxies including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Houthis in Yemen.
“The United States is committed to targeting Iran’s key revenue streams that fund its destabilizing activities,” Bradley Smith, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a release. Smith said Iran relies on a shadowy network of vessels, companies, and facilitators for those activities.
The vessels targeted were the Djibouti-flagged crude oil tanker MS ENOLA, owned by Journey Investment company, the San Marino-flagged MS ANGIA, and the Panama-flagged MS MELENIA. The last two tankers are managed and operated by Liberia- and Greece-registered Rose Shipping Limited, Treasury said.
The Treasury also sanctioned a dozen individuals, including the head of the Houthi-aligned Central Bank of Yemen branch in Sanaa, for their roles in trafficking arms, laundering money, and shipping illicit Iranian petroleum for the benefit of the Houthi militias.
It said that among the persons designated are key smuggling operatives, arms traffickers, and shipping and financial facilitators who have enabled the Houthis to acquire and transport an array of dual-use and weapons components, as well as generate revenue to support their destabilizing regional activities.
The sanctions block all property and interests in the United States of the designated parties and US persons and entities dealing with them could be exposed to sanctions or enforcement actions including fines.
