US sanctions Iran-based money network funding Yemen’s Houthis

Action comes as US also lifts sanction on three former Iranian government officials and two companies.

The United States Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned members of a smuggling network that US officials assert helps fund Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen. Treasury officials said the network, allegedly led by Iran-based Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal, directs funds from the sale of Iranian petroleum through a complex web of intermediaries and exchange houses in multiple countries to the Houthis in Yemen. “This network’s financial support enables the Houthis’ deplorable attacks threatening civilian and critical infrastructure in Yemen and Saudi Arabia,” Andrea Gacki, director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.