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 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.
Bulk carrier M.V. Zafar (IMO 9720263) is said to in summer and fall 2024 at least two shipments of stolen Ukrainian grain from Crimea to Yemen.
OFAC designated Zafar, its Hong Kong-based registered owner AM Asia M6 Limited, and two Russian nationals that served as the ship’s masters in 2024. Russian national Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Vidanov served as the captain of the Zafar during some of the 2024 voyages between Crimea and Yemen, and Russian national Yuri Vladimirovich Belyakov served as the vessel’s captain through the end of 2024.