Hobbling Houthis' Ability to Acquire Weapons

Hobbling Houthis' Ability to Acquire Weapons

Since last October, the Iran-backed Houthi militants have been attacking commercial shipping moving through the Bab-al-Mandab strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Under the guise of support for Hamas and opposition to Israel, they have used surface-to-surface missiles, artillery rockets, loitering munitions and drones to attack over seventy ships. They have killed four sailors and taken hostages while demanding an end to the Hamas-Israeli war. According to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, so far, the Houthis have conducted over two hundred air attacks against Israel.

The best way to minimize a dangerous entity is to deny it the means to strike. In the Houthis’ case, that means inhibiting the group’s ability to procure weapons, including military-grade and dual-use equipment.

As the majority of weapons the Houthis use are of Russian, Chinese or Iranian origin, removing the means of transporting weapons is one way to keep them out of Houthi hands. Thus, the United States Department of the Treasury and the State Department have sanctioned two individuals and four entities complicit in weapons procurement.

The first is Al-Shahari United Corporation Ltd. This Yemen-based logistics company has facilitated numerous shipments of Chinese missile and unmanned aerial vehicles to Yemen. Al-Shahari’s China-based branch, Guangzhou Alshahari United Corporation Limited, helped facilitate these shipments.

Guangzhou Alshahari is owned by Hong Kong-based Hongkong Alshahari United Corporation Limited.

All three companies have been designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. As well, Ahmed Khaled Yahya [Yaya] Al-Shahari is designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, for being a leader or official of Hong Kong Alshahari.

Maher Yahya Muhammad Mutahar al-Kinai, a Yemeni businessman, is the General Manager of Yemen Telecommunication Asset Company for Information Technology, a company that has facilitated Houthi procurement efforts.

Both Al-Kinai and Yemen Telecommunication Asset Company for Information Technology are being designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided support for the Houthis.

As a result of the designations, all property and assets of the designated individuals and entities within U.S. reach are frozen.

“The Houthis have sought to exploit key jurisdictions like the PRC and Hong Kong in order to source and transport the components necessary for their deadly weapons systems,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “[The United States] will continue to target the facilitators that enable the Houthis’ destabilizing activities.”