Retired Navy ship Capt. Gene Moran studies the impact of ships being forced to find alternative routes around the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks.
The US imposes sanctions on an individual and three money exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey accused of “facilitating the flow of Iranian financial aid to Houthi forces and their destabilizing activities.”
“Today’s action underscores our determination to restrict the flow of illicit funds to the Houthis, who continue to launch dangerous attacks on international shipping and risk further destabilization of the region,” said Brian E. Nelson, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. said in a press release.
“The United States, along with our allies and partners, will continue to target the key brokering networks that enable the destabilizing activities of the Houthis and their supporters in Iran.”
According to the Treasury Department, Nabil Al-Hadha facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars to the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen at the direction of Sa'id al-Jamal, who had previously been imprisoned for his affiliation with the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sanctions had been imposed (IRGC-QF).
Iran-backed Houthis attack another container ship transiting the Red Sea
Huge gantry cranes and an unloading freighter at the Haifa container port in Israel. (Planet One Images/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) said one of its container ships was attacked while transiting the Red Sea.
Shipping giant resumes travel in the Red Sea with Operation Prosperity Guardian
The Switzerland-based company said its container ship MSC United VIII was attacked around 12:25 UTC while en route from King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia to Karachi in Pakistan.
Houthi militias said they fired rockets at the ship, without saying it was hit.
A map of the Red Sea (Google Maps / Google Maps)
Attacks on ships sailing the Red Sea have skyrocketed following Israel's offensive against Hamas in response to the militant group's attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and injured hundreds more.
Major shipping companies, including Denmark-based giant Maersk, are avoiding the Red Sea and sending ships through Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, adding costs and delays.
An MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA container ship sails south through the Great Bitter Lake in Ismailia, Egypt, on December 21, 2023. (Stringer/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about positive behavior change,” the US Treasury Department said in its press release. “The Houthis’ ongoing attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have severely restricted the free flow of trade through the region and constitute a clear violation of international law.”
Fox Business's Bradford Betz, Greg Wehner and Portal contributed to this report.