Aden (South24 Center)

The Central Bank of Yemen in Aden on Tuesday (October 20) instructed banks and exchange companies and establishments operating in the country to freeze the accounts, funds and assets of 135 individuals, entities and vessels placed on national terrorism and sanctions lists over their links to the Houthis. The directive also prohibits financial and commercial dealings with those listed.

The instructions implement Public Prosecutor’s Decision No. 17 of 2026, issued on October 19, ordering their designation and the freezing of their assets, according to the official Yemeni news agency Saba.

Among the prominent figures covered by the decision is Ali Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, the son of the group’s founder and undersecretary of the Interior Ministry for security and police intelligence in the internationally unrecognized Houthi government. The decision’s documents also identify him as overseeing the Supreme Economic Committee and the Payments Committee.

Also listed is Mohammed Salah Ali Flaytah, whom the documents describe as overseeing a petroleum products supply network and serving as an assistant to the Supreme Economic Committee’s general supervisor.

The list also includes Abduljabbar Ahmed Mohammed al-Jarmouzi, finance minister in the internationally unrecognized Houthi government, whom the documents also identify as deputy chairman of the Supreme Economic Committee.

Other figures include Mohammed Ahmed Miftah, head of the Houthi government; Safar al-Soufi, director of the group leader’s office; Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of its political bureau; Abdulqader al-Murtada, head of its Prisoners’ Affairs Committee; and Nasr al-Din Amer, head of the Houthi-run Saba news agency in Sanaa.

The list extends to officials associated with banking institutions and telecommunications companies, including CAC Bank, the Yemen Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the National Bank of Yemen, Al-Amal Bank, Yemen Mobile, Sabafon, TeleYemen, YOU and Y Telecom. These entries concern officials associated with those institutions and do not, in themselves, mean that all the institutions named have been separately designated.

In the commercial and maritime sectors, the list includes SAIL AL ZAWRAQ and five oil tankers named MT HASH, MT SEND, MT ROCKY, MT SHRIA and MT NOBLE, which Yemeni authorities accuse of involvement in oil-smuggling operations benefiting the group.

The central bank instructed financial institutions to identify the accounts, balances, assets and incoming and outgoing transfers associated with those listed and submit the information to the Financial Information Collection Unit and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Department. It also gave them two working days from the circular’s issuance to provide evidence of compliance.

The move comes amid broader measures targeting Houthi financing and associated oil trading. In June 2025, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on four individuals, 12 entities and two vessels, accusing companies and intermediaries of generating revenue for the group through oil imports, sales and smuggling operations via Houthi-controlled ports.

The department said at the time that Black Diamond Petroleum Derivatives, a company linked to Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam, had facilitated Iranian oil smuggling into Yemen and that the group relied on the proceeds to finance its operations. Those US sanctions are separate from the current Yemeni list.

On October 11, Yemen’s Cabinet approved a draft law designating the Houthis a terrorist organization and criminalizing their activities and financing. It instructed the relevant authorities to complete the constitutional and legal procedures required for its enactment.