On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced a seventh round of sanctions targeting the network of Sa’id al-Jamal, a financial facilitator working on behalf of the Houthis, an international terrorist group. Sa’id al-Jamal — he is also known by the Chinese alias Caihong — was designated in June 2021 pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, for his actions supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (“IRGC-QF”). In addition to shipping companies, individuals and ships’ captains working directly with Sa’id al-Jamal (including al-Jamal’s nephew Abdallah Najib Ahmad al-Jamal), OFAC has designated Hong Kong and Panama-based ship owners and vessels for their support of the IRGC-QF. These designations, issued pursuant to the counterterrorism sanctions authority, are aimed at “disrupting and degrading the Houthis’ ability to engage in attacks against commercial shipping,” in the words of U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for i and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
As a result of these designations by OFAC, all property and interests in property of the designated persons within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.