By Al-Fassel | 2025-03-17

The US State Department's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the Houthis' financial mechanisms.

The United States on March 4 re-designated the Iran-backed group, which has carried out more than 100 attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and US service members, as a terrorist organization.

The Houthis, who receive arms and training from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), are a "highly mobile, well-armed" group, the Rewards for Justice announcement said.

They have used "technologically advanced rockets, drones and ballistic anti-ship missiles" to attack US personnel in the Middle East, US regional partners and threaten the stability of global maritime trade, it said.

The Iran-backed group has fired drones and missiles at US Navy vessels "dozens of times since 2023," endangering US men and women in uniform, it added.

Since seizing Sanaa in a September 2014 coup, the Houthis have launched multiple attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia and conducted a January 2022 attack on the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Since November 2023, the group has fired hundreds of missiles at Israel.

The Houthis also have killed civilian sailors, and their actions have forced some Red Sea maritime commercial traffic to reroute, harming global and regional economies as well as efforts to deliver humanitarian aid.

Since its inception in 1984, the RFJ program has paid out over $250 million to more than 125 people worldwide who provided actionable information that has helped resolve threats to US national security.

Information can be submitted via multiple platforms -- Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram and TOR browser as well as via the RFJ website -- in numerous languages. All tips received are read.