US imposes sanctions targeting Houthi, Hezbollah trade, Treasury Dept says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday issued more sanctions targeting Houthi and Hezbollah trade networks, the U.S. Treasury Department said, as Washington increases pressure on Tehran and the Iranian-backed groups.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it targeted companies, individuals and vessels accused of being involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities, including oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of a Houthi financial official's network.

It said the revenue from Sa’id al-Jamal's network helps finance the Houthis' targeting of shipping in the Red Sea and civilian infrastructure. Attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants have disrupted a shipping route vital to east-west trade, with prolonged rerouting of shipments pushing freight rates higher and causing congestion in Asian and European ports.

Also targeted on Thursday were Hezbollah shipments of LPG, including through the designation of a Hong Kong-based ship manager and operator as well as several tankers.

The Treasury said the Hezbollah-controlled Talaqi Group used two of the tankers to ship LPG worth tens of millions of dollars from Iran to China.

“Today’s action underscores our continued commitment to disrupting Iran’s primary source of funding to its regional terrorist proxies like Lebanese Hizballah and the Houthis,” said Treasury's Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley Smith.

“Our message is clear: those who seek to finance these groups’ destabilizing activities will be held to account.”

Thursday's action freezes any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; editing by Rami Ayyub and Chizu Nomiyama)