By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-07-31

ADEN -- New US sanctions targeting businessmen and companies linked to the Houthis and the Iranian regime will curb smuggling and financing networks that support the Houthis and undermine regional stability, experts said.

The United States on July 22 announced sanctions on two businessmen and five companies operating as part of an oil smuggling network linked to the Houthis.

"The Houthis collaborate with opportunistic businessmen to reap enormous profits from the importation of petroleum products and to enable the group’s access to the international financial system," said US Treasury official Michael Faulkender.

"These networks of shady businesses underpin the Houthis’ terrorist machine," he added, noting that the Treasury will use "all tools at its disposal to disrupt these schemes."

The sanctions target businessmen Muhammad al-Sunaydar and Yahya al-Wazir and five companies associated with them.

The Houthis earn up to $3 billion annually from the import and sale of oil and gas, Yemen's Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani said July 21.

Companies owned by al-Sunaidar operate between Houthi-controlled Sanaa and the United Arab Emirates, economist Abdul Aziz Thabet told Al-Fassel.

They import Iranian oil through a company affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that brings in shipments through the Yemeni ports of al-Hodeidah and Ras Isa, he said.

Secret networks uncovered

The sanctions demonstrate that the Houthis secretive financial networks are being uncovered, he said, and are a direct blow to the group's funding.

Thabet warned that the Houthis may attempt to circumvent the sanctions by establishing front companies in other countries or using local companies as fronts for their smuggling operations.

He stressed the need for coordinated international efforts to monitor and track these networks and hold accountable those involved in supporting the Houthis militarily and financially.

The recent sanctions targeted the Houthis' main "financing nerve center," political analyst Fares al-Beel told Al-Fassel.

Al-Beel noted that Iranian oil is the primary driver of funding for the Houthis.

The Iranian regime supplies the Houthis with oil shipments that are later sold on the black market at huge markups, he said, which contributes to strengthening the group's military capabilities.

Yemen has become part of a regional conflict led by the Iranian regime, he said, which has turned the parts of the country controlled by the Houthis into a military base for the IRGC.