logo
US sanctions network helping to get weapons for Houthis

US sanctions network helping to get weapons for Houthis

The Hill02-04-2025

The United States sanctioned an alleged network of financial facilitators, procurement operatives and companies on Wednesday that are getting weapons, dual-use materials and stolen Ukrainian grain to Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, the Treasury Department announced on Wednesday.
Two operatives — brothers who are based in Russia — Afghani businessmen Hushang Ghairat and Sohrab Ghairat, have assisted Sa'id al-Jamal, a senior Houthi financial operative who is backed by the Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in securing commercial shipments in Russia, including arms transfer, the Treasury Department said.
'The Houthis remain reliant on Sa'id al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods to supply the group's terrorist war machine,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. 'Today's action underscores our commitment to degrading the Houthis' ability to threaten the region through their destabilizing activities.'
Hushang and Sohrab were able to facilitate at least two shipments, at the request of al-Jamal, of stolen Ukrainian grain from the Crimean Peninsula to Yemen last summer and fall, according to the Treasury Department.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the network. In the process, the OFAC identified a minimum of eight digital asset wallets that are used by Houthis, a U.S.- designated terrorist organization, to transfer funds related to the network's efforts.
'The United States is committed to eliminating the Iran-backed Houthis' capabilities and resources to conduct attacks on our servicemembers and naval assets, while ending their ability to threaten the security of the United States and our partners,' State Department's spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement on Wednesday.
Sohrab Ghairat is the general director of three companies that are based in Russia: LLC Sky Frame, LLC Edison, and LLC Kolibri Group, according to the Treasury Department.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Russia launches another large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine, killing 3 and wounding 13
Russia launches another large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine, killing 3 and wounding 13

Los Angeles Times

time3 minutes ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Russia launches another large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine, killing 3 and wounding 13

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia attacked two Ukrainian cities with waves of drones and missiles early Tuesday, killing three people and wounding at least 13 in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called 'one of the biggest' strikes in the 3-year-old war. The attack struck Kyiv and the southern port city of Odesa. In an online statement, Zelensky said that Moscow's forces fired over 315 drones, most of them Shaheds, and seven missiles overnight. 'Russian missile and Shahed strikes are louder than the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace,' Zelensky wrote, urging 'concrete action' from the U.S. and Europe in response to the attack. A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the southern port of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional head Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured, according to the regional prosecutor's office. Another person was killed in Kyiv's Obolonskyi district, regional head Tymur Tkachenko wrote on Telegram. 'Russian strikes are once again hitting not military targets but the lives of ordinary people. This once again shows the true nature of what we are dealing with,' he said. Explosions and the buzzing of drones were heard around the city for hours. The fresh attacks came a day after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating Moscow's response to Kyiv's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases. Russia has been launching a record number of drones and missiles in recent days, despite both sides trading memoranda at direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2 that set out conditions for a potential ceasefire. However, the inclusion of clauses that both sides see as nonstarters make any quick deal unlikely, and a ceasefire, long sought by Kyiv, remains elusive. The only tangible outcome of the talks has been the exchange of prisoners of war, with a swap that began Monday for soldiers aged between 18 and 25. Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday it had received a second group of exchanged soldiers as part of the deal. Amina Ivanchenko was reunited Monday with her husband, a POW for 18 months, in the release of an initial group of Ukrainian soldiers. She said was grateful to Ukrainian officials for supporting her. 'My struggle was much easier thanks to them. Our country will definitely return everyone. Glory to Ukraine! Thank you!' Anastasia Nahorna waited in the Chernyhiv region to see if her husband, who has been missing for eight months, was among those being released in the latest swap. 'This pain is more unbearable every day,' she said. 'I really want to hear some news, because since the moment of his disappearance, unfortunately, there has been no information. Is he alive? or maybe in captivity? Has someone seen him?' she asked. Anna Rodionova, the wife of another Ukrainian POW, also was waiting. 'I just want him to come back soon and for this to all be over,' she said. 'We are tired of waiting, we come every exchange and he is not there.' A similar exchange was announced for the bodies of fallen soldiers held by both sides, although no schedule has been released. Asked to comment on the exchange of dead, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unclear when it could take place and how many bodies Ukraine would hand over. He again accused Kyiv of dragging its feet on the exchange. 'There is one unarguable fact, we have had trucks with bodies standing ready for it on the border for several days,' he told reporters. Plumes of smoke rose in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday. Viktoriia Melnyk, 30, vented her anger at the Russians after her building in the Obolonskyi district was struck by a drone. 'I want them to leave our territory, to leave us alone, to leave our families alone,' she said. 'Small children are dying. This is not normal. It's not normal that (the world) is turning away. This is not normal for the 21st century.' Mariia Pachapynska, the 26-year-old manager at a T-shirt company in the Obolonskiy district that produces T-shirts, decried that her facility was struck. 'There were military facilities here,' she said, noting that 'everything and half of me, half of my soul, burned down.' Seven out of 10 districts were damaged in the attack, according to Maryna Kotsupii of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, adding that 16-story and 25-story residential buildings were hit. Residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the long attack, including Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son, Levko. 'I just try not to think about all this, silently curled up like a mouse, wait until it all passes, the attacks. Distract the child somehow because it's probably the hardest thing for him to bear,' she said. Krystyna Semak, 37, said she was scared by the explosions and ran to the metro at 2 a.m., carrying a rug. Fires broke out in at least four Kyiv districts after debris from downed drones fell onto residential buildings and warehouses, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration. 'I was lying in bed, as always hoping that these Shaheds would fly past me, and I heard that Shahed (that hit the house),' said Vasyl Pesenko, 25, standing in his damaged kitchen. 'I thought that it would fly away, but it flew closer and closer and everything blew away.' The attack sparked 19 fires across Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. 'Russia must answer for every crime it commits. Until there is justice, there will be no security. For Ukraine. And for the world,' he said. The Russian Defense Ministry said an attack early Tuesday targeted arms plants in Kyiv, as well as military headquarters, troop locations, air bases and arms depots across Ukraine. 'The goals of the strikes have been achieved, all the designated targets have been hit,' it said in a statement. The death toll rose Tuesday from previous Russian strikes. In Kharkiv, rescuers found a body in the rubble of a building that was hit Saturday, Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram. The discovery brought the number of dead there to five, with five others potentially under the debris, Terekhov said. In the northern city of Sumy, a 17-year-old boy died of his injuries Tuesday after a June 3 attack, acting Mayor Artem Kobzar wrote on Telegram, bringing the number killed to six. The Russian Defense Ministry reported downing 102 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow illegally annexed from Kyiv in 2014. The drones were downed both over regions on the border and deeper inside Russia, including central Moscow and Leningrad regions, according to the Defense Ministry. Flights were temporarily restricted at multiple Russian airports, including all four in Moscow and the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, the country's second-largest city. Stepanenko and Kullab write for the Associated Press. AP Journalist Illia Novikov contributed to this report.

UK announces $19 billion investment in first major nuclear plant since the 1990s
UK announces $19 billion investment in first major nuclear plant since the 1990s

Associated Press

time23 minutes ago

  • Associated Press

UK announces $19 billion investment in first major nuclear plant since the 1990s

LONDON (AP) — Britain will invest 14.2 billion pounds ($19 billion) to build a new nuclear station that will reduce the U.K.'s reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets, the government said Tuesday. Officials said the investment will go into building the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, on England's eastern coast, saying it will generate enough low-carbon electricity to power 6 million homes when it becomes operational in the 2030s. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said previous governments had dithered and delayed over nuclear power. No new nuclear plant has been opened in the U.K. since Sizewell B in 1995. 'Having our own energy in this country that we control, gives us security, gives us independence, so (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can't put his boot on our throat,' Starmer said. 'And it means that we can control the prices in a way that we haven't been able to in recent years, which has meant very high prices for businesses, for households and for families.' The government also announced that Rolls-Royce is the preferred bidder to develop a number of small modular reactors, which it said can power around 3 million homes and help fuel power-hungry industries like AI data centers. The Treasury said building Sizewell C will create 10,000 jobs. The investment announced Tuesday is in addition to 3.7 billion pounds the U.K. government already committed to the project. Nuclear power is seen as an increasingly important electricity source as the government seeks to decarbonize Britain's electricity grid by 2030, replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon power. The U.K. also wants to reduce its dependence on imported oil and gas, especially in light of soaring energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But critics have said nuclear plants are far more expensive and slow to build compared with renewable energy options such as solar and wind power. Environmental groups have also argued Sizewell C will damage local nature reserves that host wildlife like otters and marsh birds. About 300 people joined a protest against the development at the Suffolk site over the weekend. 'Net zero is supposed to happen by 2030 — there is no way this is going to be completed by then,' said Jenny Kirtley, a local resident who chairs the campaign group Together Against Sizewell C.

Houthis Defiant After Unprecedented Israeli Naval Attack
Houthis Defiant After Unprecedented Israeli Naval Attack

Newsweek

time38 minutes ago

  • Newsweek

Houthis Defiant After Unprecedented Israeli Naval Attack

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Houthis will keep carrying out military operations against Israel in support for Gaza, a spokesperson said, dismissing the impact of Tuesday's unprecedented naval attack on the Hodeida port in Yemen. Israel had previously struck only from the air. Newsweek has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment. Why It Matters The port attack comes as the Yemeni Houthis have defied Israel by targeted its Ben Gurion international airport with ballistic missiles, including one last month that the Israeli missile defense systems failed to intercept, causing a brief disruption of air traffic. Israel is currently facing the Houthi threat alone after the United States signed a ceasefire agreement with the Iranian-backed rebel group, which has in the past disrupted maritime navigation through the Red Sea and whose capabilities were not neutralized despite heavy U.S. airstrikes for over a month. Houthi supporters wear Muslim pilgrims dress, known as "Ihram", as they burn American and Israeli flags during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel weekly rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, May 30, 2025. Houthi supporters wear Muslim pilgrims dress, known as "Ihram", as they burn American and Israeli flags during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel weekly rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, May 30, 2025. Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Photo What To Know Nasruddin Amer, Head of Houthi-controlled Saba News Agency said the recent Israeli port attack has "no significant impact" on the group's "preparations for escalation and expansion of operations deep inside the Zionist enemy entity," he wrote on his X account in a reference to Israel. "It has no impact even on the morale of our people who take to the streets weekly by the millions in support of Gaza," he added. In a separate post, Amer alleged that Israel carried a naval aggression to avoid air force defeat by the Houthis. The IDF said that the navy's operational flexibility with close range strikes had allowed it to hit targets at Hodeida port that the air force had struggled to neutralize in around 10 prior airstrikes on the Houthis since mid-2024, according to The Jerusalem Post. The Houthis have warned international vessels from carrying weapons to Israel through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab with the threat of possible attacks. The Houthis say they are acting in support of Gaza, which has been devastated by an Israeli offensive since Hamas launched an attack on Israel from there in October 2023. What People Are Saying Nasrudding Amer wrote on X: "Have the skies of Yemen become closed to American, Zionist and other aircraft?! The coming days will answer these questions and others." Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on X: "Israeli Navy Missile Ships struck terror targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the Hudaydah Port in Yemen. These strikes were conducted in response to repeated missile and UAV attacks on Israeli territory. The Hudaydah Port is used to transfer weapons and to exploit civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities." What Happens Next The Houthis have vowed to uphold a naval blockade on Israel-linked vessels passing through the Red Sea as well as attacks targeting Ben Gurion airport, with Israel pledging to deliver a powerful response.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store