US President Donald Trump’s administration sanctioned seven Houthi leaders and an individual who sent Yemeni civilians to fight for Russia in Ukraine on Wednesday, just a day after re-declaring the group a foreign terrorist organization.
The seven sanctioned leaders “smuggled military-grade items and weapon systems into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen” and negotiated arms deals with Russia on behalf of the Iran-backed group, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships off Yemen in support of Palestinian terrorists fighting Israel, disrupting global shipping.
Throughout the war in Gaza, the group repeatedly fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel. While most were intercepted, the missile attacks caused extensive damage to buildings — including destroying an empty school building at nighttime — and on one occasion killed a man in Tel Aviv.
Among those sanctioned was Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Houthis’ “Oman-based spokesman,” whom the Treasury Department said had played “a key role” in managing the group’s internal and external financing network.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned Mahdi Mohammed Hussein al-Mashat, whom it named as the chairman of the Houthi-aligned Supreme Political Council.
“By seeking weapons from a growing array of international suppliers, Houthi leaders have shown their intent to continue their reckless and destabilizing actions in the Red Sea region,” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“The US government is committed to holding the Houthis accountable for acquiring weapons and weapons components from suppliers in Russia, China, and Iran to threaten Red Sea security,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a separate statement.
The Treasury Department named the individual accused of procuring Yemeni civilians to fight for Russia in Ukraine as Abdulwali Abdoh Hasan al-Jabri, and accused the Houthi affiliate of fundraising for the group.
Through a private company, al-Jabri “facilitated the transfer of Yemeni civilians to Russian military units fighting in Ukraine in exchange for cash,” the Treasury Department said.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the department had restored the “foreign terrorist organization” designation, which carries with it sanctions and penalties for anyone providing “material support” for the group.
“Since 2023, the Houthis have launched hundreds of attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as US service members defending freedom of navigation and our regional partners,” Rubio said in a statement. “Most recently, the Houthis spared Chinese-flagged ships while targeting American and allied vessels.”
In January, the Houthis signaled that they would limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships after a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip but warned wider assaults could resume if needed.
In its waning days, Trump’s first Republican administration designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, but the label was revoked by successor Joe Biden over concerns it would stifle aid to Yemen, which was considered to be facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. After the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Biden imposed the lesser designation of the Houthis as a “specially designated global terrorist.”
Besides the “foreign terrorist organization” announcement, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced that it would pay up to $15 million for information that leads to the disruption of Houthi financing.