/Reuters Agency
Yemen’s Houthis will impose sanctions on major US oil companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, according to a report from a body linked to the Iranian-backed militia.
The Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), based in Sana’a and established last year to facilitate communication between Houthi forces and commercial maritime operators, penalized 13 companies from the North American country, nine executives, and two ships, according to the HOCC.
The sanctions are a retaliation for the same measures imposed by the United States on the Houthis this year, despite a truce agreement with the government of President Donald Trump, in which the Yemeni group agreed to stop attacking vessels linked to the United States in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as reported by the HOCC.
“It is still unclear whether these sanctions indicate that the Houthis will begin attacking vessels linked to the sanctioned organizations, companies, and individuals, a move that could jeopardize the ceasefire agreement with the Trump government, facilitated by Oman,” said independent Middle East analyst Mohammed Albasha in a LinkedIn post.
Since 2023, the Houthis have launched numerous attacks on ships in the Red Sea that they consider linked to Israel, in what they claim is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the face of Israel’s war in Gaza.
That campaign has had little impact on the vital traffic of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The Houthis have occasionally attacked vessels in the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea with the Arabian Sea. Recently, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a cruise missile attack on a Dutch cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, which left two crew members injured and the ship on fire and adrift.
Last year, the United States imported about 500,000 barrels per day of crude and condensate from Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the EIA. That represents about 7% of total US crude and condensate imports, the lowest level in nearly 40 years due to increased domestic production and imports from Canada, the agency said.
Albasha, founder of the US-based consultancy Risk Advisory Basha Report, told Reuters that the measure will likely not affect the oil market, as most of the trade in the region is handled by Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and other Gulf countries’ companies with which the Houthis seek to maintain good relations.
“This seems like a media maneuver, a way to save face and reassure their population in the face of increasing US sanctions and Israeli attacks that have affected their economy,” he said.
“The ultimate goal of the sanctions is not punishment itself, but to achieve a positive change in behavior,” emphasized the HOCC statement.
