U.S. Sanctions Russians Sending Arms and Stolen Ukrainian Grain to Houthis

As part of Donald Trump’s vow to stop the “really bad people,” through his campaign of maximum pressure, the U.S. today, April 2, imposed sanctions on Russian businessmen sending aid to the Houthis. Among the activities the U.S. is citing is the stealing of Ukrainian grain from Crimea and shipping it to Yemen and it included the captains of the vessel among the sanctions.

“The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods to supply the group’s terrorist war machine,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Today’s action underscores our commitment to degrading the Houthis’ ability to threaten the region through their destabilizing activities.” 

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against a network of Houthi financial facilitators and procurement operatives working in coordination with Sa’id al-Jamal, a senior Houthi financial official backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). This network OFAC reports has procured tens of millions of dollars worth of commodities from Russia, including weapons and sensitive goods, as well as stolen Ukrainian grain, for onward shipment to Houthi-controlled Yemen.  

In one effort, the U.S. reports in the summer and fall of 2024 at least two shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain were involved. They report it was loaded in Crimea on board the Russia-flagged AM Theseus, also known as the Zafar, and shipped to Yemen. The vessel which is 37,300 dwt and built in 2015 was acquired in 2023 by Hong Kong-based AM Asia M6 and has switched between flags in Russia and Palau and back to Russia. 

The U.S. reports these shipments as well as other support were being orchestrated by Russia-based Afghan businessman Hushang Ghairat (Hushang) and his brother, Russia-based Afghan businessman Sohrab Ghairat (Sohrab) assisting Sa’id al-Jamal with Houthi commercial initiatives in Russia, including arms procurement. Hushang and Sohrab, at Sa’id al-Jamal’s direction, the U.S. says orchestrated the grain shipments. 

In addition to the ship manager, the U.S. is also sanctioning Russian national Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Vidanov (Vidanov) who served as the captain of the AM Theseus during some of the 2024 voyages between Crimea and Yemen, and Russian national Yuri Vladimirovich Belyakov (Belyakov) served as the vessel’s captain through the end of 2024. 

The vessel was also listed and OFAC has also identified eight digital asset wallets used by the Houthis to transfer funds associated with their activities. Hushang, Sohrab, and Sa’id al-Jamal they report use financial facilitators to conduct financial transactions in support of the Houthis’ trade ventures involving Russia. Turkey-based Iranian money launderer Hassan Jafari (Jafari) has worked with Hushang and Sa’id al-Jamal to launder dollars on behalf of Sa’id al-Jamal’s network, enabling the network’s sanctions evasion schemes.  Jafari also arranged payments worth millions of dollars in support of shipments benefiting the Houthis. 

The sanctions were announced as U.S. Central Command continues to report attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen. The last attack they highlighted was on March 31 more than two weeks after Trump launched the new campaign.