Latest Developments
The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting entities affiliated with Iranian proxy terrorist groups in Yemen and Lebanon engaged in the smuggling of Iranian commodities. The sanctioned entities, according to an August 15 Treasury Department press release, include several companies, individuals, and vessels involved in transporting commodities, among them oil and liquified petroleum gas, to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The sanctioned entities belong to the network of Sa’id al-Jamal — an Iran-based financier of the Houthi rebels in Yemen who was sanctioned by the United States in 2021 — which helps finance the Yemeni terrorist group’s attacks on international commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Al-Jamal’s activities have also generated revenue for the IRGC’s Quds Force, which trains and equips Iranian proxy groups throughout the region.
The department also sanctioned a Hong Kong-based shipping company, Kai Heng Long Global Energy Limited, and four tankers, the MV Fengshun, MV Victoria, MV Lady Liberty, and MV Parvati, that transported Iranian liquified petroleum gas. The Fengshun and Victoria are operated by the Hezbollah-controlled Talaqi Group — a group of front companies run by Hezbollah official Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal — and were used to ship “tens of millions” of dollars’ worth of liquified petroleum gas from Iran to China. The Talaqi Group and al-Bazzal have both been sanctioned by the United States.
Expert Analysis
“This is an important sanctions enforcement action undercut by a policy of simultaneously relieving pressure on the Houthis by leaving the group off the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list and maintaining wide exceptions to its sanctions designation.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor
“Since Treasury designated Sa’id al-Jamal in 2021, the government has continued to target his network of shipping companies, vessels, and intermediaries who, by way of supporting the Houthis, are benefiting the Iranian regime. But with every additional designation, one must ask whether we are simply playing a years-long game of cat and mouse or if the United States is truly coming close to cutting off the al-Jamal network for good. Americans deserve to know which of these is true.” — Max Meizlish, Senior Research Analyst for FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP)
Sanctions on Al-Jamal
The United States sanctioned al-Jamal and 11 members of his network on June 10, 2021, noting then that his network “generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue from the sale of commodities, like Iranian petroleum, a significant portion of which is then directed through a complex network of intermediaries and exchange houses in multiple countries to the Houthis in Yemen.” Since his designation, the Treasury has sanctioned entities in al-Jamal’s network on numerous occasions, including more than a half-dozen times this year alone.
Many of al-Jamal’s sanctioned vessels fly flags of convenience, registering in jurisdictions with lax anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance regimes, such as Panama, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and others. This tactic poses a risk to international maritime security and makes it more difficult to enforce sanctions against Iran’s malign influence. The United States has previously asked these countries to strip sanctioned Iranian vessels of their flags.
“Treasury Sanctions Highlight Hong Kong’s Role as Emerging Sanctions Evasion Hub,” by Max Meizlish
“U.S., UK Sanction Iranian Deputy Commander and Houthi Member,” FDD Flash Brief
“10 Things to Know About the Houthis,” FDD Insight
“U.S. Sanctions on Houthis Come With Broad Exceptions,” FDD Flash Brief