Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in the Gaza Strip a year ago, the Houthis have targeted shipping throughout the key Red Sea corridor - as part of a campaign they say aims at pressuring Israel and the West over the war.
Two Indians are among those sanctioned by the United States for their alleged ties to a network of Houthis - an armed group of Zaydi Shiites or Zaydiyyah that controls most parts of Yemen - transporting Iranian oil, revenue from which helps the outfit to carry out attacks on Israel and disrup shipping in the Red Sea region.
Houthis are armed by Iran and seized a decade ago most of Yemen's north and its capital, Sanaa, pushing the country's internationally recognised government into exile.
Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in the Gaza Strip a year ago, the Houthis have targeted shipping throughout the key Red Sea corridor - as part of a campaign they say aims at pressuring Israel and the West over the war. The Houthis initially targeted vessels claimed to be linked to Israel, but later included all commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden using small boats, short-range missiles and drones.
The US has sanctioned 18 companies and individuals, including the two Indians. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the companies, including the captains of vessels transporting illicit oil, for their ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force-backed Houthi financial official Sa’id al-Jamal and his network, a press release said on Thursday.
The 18 companies sanctioned also include Marshall Islands-registered Changtai Shipping and Motionavigations Limited and UAE-based Indo Gulf Ship Management.
The two Indians sanctioned - Rahul Rattanlal and Dipankar Mohan Keot -are linked to the Indo Gulf Ship Management, according to the Treasury Department.
The release said that United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India-based Rahul Rattanlal Warikoo acts as the managing director of Indo Gulf Ship Management and has also served in management roles for US-designated companies Safe Seas Ship Management and Aurum Ship Management, which have been implicated in Iranian oil shipments for Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics and the al-Jamal network.
Dipankar Mohan Keot, the Indian national based in Hong Kong India as well, is the technical manager of Indo Gulf Ship Management, as per the Treasury Department adding that under this role, he is responsible for monitoring vessel operations, including the budget and expenditure of the vessels under the company’s oversight.
With the sanctions, all their property and interests in property that are owned directly or indirectly, with more than 50 per cent stake, would be blocked and reported to the OFAC, the release added.
Vessel captains Ali Barkhordar and Wahid Ullah Durrani are also being sanctioned for providing financial, material or technological support to the al-Jamal network. "The al-Jamal network is not only reliant on its system of companies, managers, and vessels to transport Iranian commodities, but also on the individuals who oversee these shipments," the US Department Of The Treasury said citing Ali Barkhordar and Wahid Ullah Durrani's names.
As per the US Department Of The Treasury, "Sa’id al-Jamal’s network continues to provide tens of millions of dollars in revenue to the Houthis in Yemen through its shipment of Iranian commodities, including oil, a funding stream underpinning the Houthis’ ongoing attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea."
In mid-August, Iranian national Ali Barkhordar, while acting as the master of the US-sanctioned vessel YORGOS, conducted a ship-to-ship transfer with the US-sanctioned Guyanese-flagged vessel OLYMPICS, captained by Pakistani national Durrani, to load sanctioned oil cargo on behalf of al-Jamal, the release said.