Two tankers are included in a new round of US counter-terrorism sanctions imposed against purported finance and trade facilitators for Houthi militants in Yemen, Iran’s Qods Force and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) cited the 159,900-dwt Dawn II (built 2000) and 105,200-dwt Abyss (built 1998) in connection with what it said were the activities of Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal.
Ofac said it was the sixth round of sanctions against al-Jamal, who is said to be backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
The action “represents yet another step in a concerted campaign to disrupt Quds Force finances and its support to terrorist proxies such as the Houthis”, it added.
Liberia-based Hassaleh International Co is the registered owner of the Panama-flagged Dawn II, formerly known as Spar and Akin I, Ofac said. It allegedly worked with al-Jamal and his business partner Abdi Nasir Ali Mahamud to ship Iranian commodities to China.
Al-Jamal coordinated with India-based KNH Shipping Private Ltd, also known as KNH Global Private Ltd, to procure forged shipping documents to obfuscate the origin of the commodities on board the Dawn II, according to Ofac.
KNH Shipping Private has provided extensive services to the al-Jamal network through the provision of forged shipping documents and brokering and managing vessels for the network’s use, US authorities alleged.
The al-Jamal network has also used the Palau-flagged Abyss to ship Iranian commodities to China, Ofac charged, using forged documents to disguise the Iranian origin of its cargo.
The Abyss is owned by Vietnam-based Quoc Viet Marine Transport JSC and operated by India’s Melody Shipmanagement Pvt Ltd, the agency said.
Hassaleh International Co, KNH Shipping Private, Quoc Viet Marine Transport and Melody Shipmanagement all were designated for sanctions.
Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said: “[The] Treasury remains resolute in our commitment to deploy our tools against those who seek to fund the illicit activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and its destabilising proxy groups.”
“The US will continue to take action to disrupt the abuse of international energy markets to facilitate terrorist activities.”
