By Al-Fassel | 2024-01-17

Though the Houthis have ample funds at their disposal -- from their sponsor, Iran, and as a result of their exploitation of the Yemeni people in areas they control -- they have been unable to achieve their key objectives, analysts said.

As the Iran-backed group continues to disrupt international shipping in the Red Sea in violation of international law, US forces on Sunday (January 14) shot down a cruise missile fired at a US warship from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The latest strike comes after US and UK forces on Thursday launched strikes to halt the Houthis' repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The United States also has been working to disrupt the Houthis' revenue streams and its financial facilitators, on Friday blacklisting two companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Hong Kong-based Cielo Maritime and UAE-based Global Tech Marine Services have shipped Iranian commodities on behalf of the network of Houthi financial facilitator Said al-Jamal, the US Treasury said.

"The revenue from the commodity sales supports the Houthis and their continued attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden," it said in a statement.

"Together with our allies and partners, we will take all available measures to stop the destabilizing activities of the Houthis and their threats to global commerce," said Treasury official Brian Nelson.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller vowed that "the United States will continue to counter illicit Iranian financial support to the Houthis."

In its latest move, the United States also identified four vessels as "blocked property" in which the designated companies have an interest, AFP reported.

Some of the vessels were said to have used forged documents to hide the Iranian origin of cargo.

In a previous round of sanctions, the United States on December 28 blacklisted one individual and three entities responsible for facilitating the flow of Iranian financial assistance to the Houthis and their destabilizing activities in the region.

Sanctions were imposed on Sanaa Currency Exchangers Association head Nabil Ali Ahmed al-Hadha and on three exchange houses in Yemen and Türkiye.

Per the US Treasury, al-Hadha and the three blacklisted entities had facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars to the Houthis at the direction of Said al-Jamal, an affiliate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF).

Al-Jamal is under US sanctions already. His blacklisted network relies on a web of exchange houses throughout the Middle East to facilitate the movement of Iranian funds to Houthi-aligned financial firms in Yemen, the US Treasury said.

"These funds are ultimately transferred to the Houthis or affiliated businesses located throughout the region," it said.

Houthis' destabilizing activity

"The Houthis' continued attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have sharply curtailed the free flow of commerce through the region and represent a clear violation of international law," the Treasury said.

Since November, "the Houthis have recklessly launched numerous missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at commercial vessels transiting near Yemen's coastline," it added.

The Houthis have launched more than 25 attacks on vessels transiting the southern Red Sea, including a massive barrage of drones and missiles on January 9 that was thwarted by US and UK forces.

"About 1,500 vessels have safely transited through the Bab al-Mandeb," US Naval Forces Central Command's Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said during a January 4 briefing.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday said the United States had delivered a private message to Iran about the Iran-backed Houthis responsible for attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea, media outlets reported.

"We delivered it privately and we're confident we're well-prepared," he said.

Details about the private message were not disclosed.

During a January 10 briefing, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called on Iran to stop providing support to the Houthis, noting that "we're not the only ones who sent that message to Iran."

Houthis' vast wealth

"The Houthis continue to control legal and illegal sources of revenue, namely customs, taxes, zakat, non-tax revenues and illicit fees," the United Nations panel of experts on Yemen said in a February 2023 report.

"They have levied a khums (one-fifth) tax on many economic activities, including in the mineral, hydrocarbon, water and fishery sectors, and the beneficiaries of the new levy include the al-Houthi family and several of their loyalists," it said.

"Real estate is another sector that generates significant revenues for the Houthis, who forcibly confiscated large swathes of land and buildings during the reporting period," the panel said.

"The Houthis are also using various telecommunications companies to send millions of messages soliciting support and financial contributions for their war efforts," it added.

Despite receiving tax revenues from oil imports, the Houthis are not using the revenue to pay public service sector salaries, the panel's report said.

Instead, they "earn illegal fees through their network of dealers, and sometimes fabricate artificial scarcities of fuel in order to create opportunities for their traders to sell oil on the black market and collect illegal fees from such sales."

"The growing financial empire run by Houthi militias in Yemen has confounded many who do not understand how large sums of money are being secured at a time when 80% of the war-torn country's population lives off humanitarian relief," Asharq al-Awsat reported in January 2021.

Since seizing control of Sanaa in September 2014, the group has "been keen on seizing the assets and funds of rival politicians, lawmakers and businessmen and taking over the oil sector, foreign trade and contracting work in Yemen," it said.

As Yemen teetered on the brink of famine, members of the group amassed "vast wealth," the Saudi Press Agency reported in August 2017.

And as Yemenis lost their lives to cholera at the rate of one per hour, cronies of Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi were competing to purchase luxurious homes in Sanaa as well as luxurious cars for themselves and their children, it added.