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US adds sanctions targeting Iran-linked networks as attacks in the Red Sea continue
With more than 100 attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea region, geopolitical strife continues to dominate one of shipping’s busiest trade corridors
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has brought sanctions against shipping networks it says are facilitating trade in Iranian commodities "on behalf of the network of Iran-based, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)-backed Houthi financial official Sa’id al-Jamal".
"The revenue from al-Jamal’s network helps finance the Houthis’ reckless targeting of shipping in the Red Sea and civilian infrastructure, which has led to grave consequences for both the region and the international community," the US Treasury said.
The Treasury said the individuals, companies and vessels it has added to its "specially designated nationals and blocked persons list" have shipped oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to fund the activities of Iran’s "regional terrorist proxies".
“Today’s action underscores our continued commitment to disrupting Iran’s primary source of funding to its regional terrorist proxies like Lebanese Hizballah and the Houthis,” the US Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T Smith said.
“Our message is clear: those who seek to finance these groups’ destabilising activities will be held to account,” he said.
The Houthis are suspected of mounting fresh attacks in the Red Sea in recent weeks following a period of relative calm. One widely reported attack came about 115 km south of the Houthi-held port city of Al Hudaydah, Yemen. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the attack saw an explosive detonate near a merchant vessel on 13 August. The vessel and crew were thought to be safe. Private security firm Ambrey reported two further attacks on the same vessel later that day.
And on 19 July, Singapore-flagged container ship Lobivia was struck by projectiles while transiting the Gulf of Aden. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said no lives were lost.
More than 100 vessels have been targeted by the Houthis since November 2023.
The attacks came as the rebels’ main financial backer, Iran, weighs possible retaliation against Israel over the assassination of the chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in July.
The US Department of State said the Yemeni group continues to receive “vast revenues from the illicit shipment of Iranian commodities” that enable the Houthis’ ongoing attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways.
Israel, too, has imposed sanctions on the IRGC-QF, according to The Times of Israel, which said 18 oil tankers have been sanctioned by the Israeli Defense Ministry’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing for alleged oil trading to finance designated terrorist organisations.
“As part of the economic campaign led by the defence establishment against the terrorist organisations, among them Quds Force, Hezbollah and Hamas, the defense minister has imposed sanctions on 18 tankers involved in transporting oil belonging to the designated terrorist organisation Quds Force, the sale proceeds of which are used to finance and strengthen the terrorist organisations, among them also Hezbollah and Hamas,” the Defense Ministry’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing said in a statement.
“The oil originates in the Iranian regime’s allocations to Quds Force, which transports the oil in tankers under a legitimate facade, in an effort to circumvent international sanctions in the context of terror financing, using methods that constitute a violation of maritime safety and environmental laws, in order to sell the oil to a wide range of countries,” the statement said.
Shipping networks sanctioned
The Treasury department reports Sa’id al-Jamal’s network relies on numerous innocuous-seeming companies scattered across jurisdictions to generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
Palau-flagged LPG tanker LPG OM, owned and operated by Marshall Islands-registered KDS Shipping Ltd, is accused of carrying multiple shipments on behalf of Sa’id al-Jamal along with Palau-flagged LPG tanker Raha Gas, owned by Marshall Islands-registered Arafat Shipping Co. The latter, according to OFAC, has shipped millions of dollars of LPG falsely identified as having loaded in the UAE to Yemen on behalf of the al-Jamal network.
"Indian national Arif Ibrahim Khot captains Raha Gas and directed the LPG shipment to Yemen. Houthi-affiliated and UAE-based ONX Trading FZE has facilitated illicit payments related to the al-Jamal network’s shipping operations," the Treasury Department said.
Palau-flagged product tanker Divine Power, which is owned and operated by Marshall Islands-registered DP Shipping Ltd, has shipped millions of dollars’ worth of fuel oil to the UAE on behalf of al-Jamal’s network, according to OFAC.
"Divine Power engaged in a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer with US-sanctioned Mehle to facilitate a shipment of fuel on behalf of the network. Mehle was sanctioned on 12 January 2024 for its role in shipments on behalf of Sa’id al-Jamal.
The Treasury said Sa’id al-Jamal’s network relies on a variety of foreign shipping agents to facilitate shipments overseas.
"Malaysia-based Transmarine Navigation provided forged documents for US-sanctioned Dawn II, falsely showing the commodities on board were of Malaysian rather than Iranian-origin. Transmarine was also involved in the transport of Iranian commodities aboard US-sanctioned Reneez on behalf of Sa’id al-Jamal. UAE-based K F D General Trading has similarly aided the al-Jamal network in arranging a shipment of Iranian commodities to the People’s Republic of China, the Treasury Department said.
Hong Kong-based Kai Heng Long Global Energy Ltd is the shipmanager, operator and registered owner of Eswatini-flagged LPG tanker Fengshun, formerly known as Venus 7, as well as the São Tomé and Príncipe-flagged LPG tanker Victoria, São Tomé and Príncipe-flagged LPG tanker Lady Liberty, and Panama-flagged LPG tanker Parvati, all of which shipped Iranian LPG.
"The Lebanese Hizballah-controlled Talaqi Group used Fengshun and Victoria to ship LPG worth tens of millions of dollars from Iran to the PRC. In early July 2024, Fengshun conducted an STS transfer with Victoria in Singapore, which ultimately delivered the cargo to the PRC," the Treasury Department said.
Several more companies have been accused of facilitating the network and have been included in a prior round of sanctions. Seychelles-registered, Thailand and Singapore-based company, Ascent General Insurance Co and UAE-based Fornacis Energy Trading Co have landed on the sanctions list for materially assisting or acting in support of Sa’id al-Jamal.
Fornacis Energy Trading is accused of purchasing and shipping Iranian cargo while Ascent General Insurance provided insurance to vessels that were identified as blocked property of those sanctioned for providing support to Sa’id al-Jamal.
Two Marshall Islands-registered firms, Barco Ship Management and Sea Knot Shipping, have been sanctioned.
Sea Knot used Mirova Dynamic to transport shipments while UAE-based Barco has been identified as the commercial manager of multiple vessels, including Panama-flagged Wanji, which is also accused of moving shipments for the al-Jamal network’s benefit.
Barco also manages and operates Panama-flagged Oceanic II and Tirex. All three ships are on the sanctions list now.
UAE-based Alpha Shine Marine Services, the shipmanager of Panama-flagged Kasper, has been sanctioned for the same purpose.
The Treasury Department claims the Sa’id al-Jamal network used Kasper to facilitate “millions of dollars’ worth of illicit trade under forged shipping documents.”
Two individuals have been identified and sanctioned: Indonesia-based Malaysian and Singaporean national Mohammad Roslan Bin Ahmad and Chinese national Zhuang Liang have been accused of facilitating Iranian shipments of crude oil and engaged in money laundering for the Sa’id al-Jamal network.
Mr Bin Ahmad also goes by the alias Royston Wu Chiren or Mohammad Roslan Royston, and is also accused of brokering vessels for the trade of Russian and Venezuelan commodities.
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