- The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken action against three vessels and their owners for delivering petroleum products to Houthi-controlled ports after the expiration of a key sanctions deadline.
- The targeted vessels delivered petroleum products to the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa after April 4, 2025, when OFAC’s general license 25A expired.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Monday on three vessels and their owners for delivering oil and gas products to Yemen’s Houthis, as Washington piled pressure on the Iran-backed rebels over their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The sanctions targeted cargo vessels that used to deliver oil and gas products to the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
Treasury targets vessels delivering oil
“Today’s action underscores our commitment to disrupt the Houthis’ efforts to fund their dangerous and destabilizing attacks in the region,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said.
The sanctions came hours after Houthi-controlled television said a U.S. airstrike killed 68 people at a detention center for African migrants in Yemen.
In March, the U.S. designated the Houthis as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” accusing the group of threatening the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East as well as partners in the region and global maritime trade.
The attacks on ships, which the Houthis say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, have disrupted global commerce, stoked fears of inflation and deepened concern about the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war.
The group has controlled the most populous parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since it ousted the government in 2014.
“The United States is committed to disrupting the Houthis’ illicit revenue generation, financial facilitators, and suppliers as part of our whole-of-government approach to eliminating threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
