Iran’s proxy money machine: How the Houthis built a multibillion-dollar network despite US sanctions

The Houthis’ rapid advance toward one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints is putting fresh scrutiny on the sprawling financial network that has helped transform the

Iran-backed group

from a Yemeni insurgency into a heavily armed regional power capable of threatening global trade.

The group has seized new territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the

strategic port city of Mocha

, and expanded toward the

Bab el-Mandeb Strait

. The waterway connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carries a significant share of global maritime trade and energy shipments.

For the Trump administration, the Houthi advance is becoming as much a financial challenge as a military one. Washington is intensifying efforts to choke off the money sustaining Iran and its proxies, but the Houthis have built a sprawling

sanctions-evasion network

while controlling ports, trade routes and millions of Yemenis — raising a difficult question for Treasury: how do you cut off the cash fueling the group without cutting off food, fuel and other lifelines to civilians?