WASHINGTON — The United States seized the domain almasirah.net, a news website operated by Yemen’s Houthi movement, in June 2021 as part of a wider U.S. law enforcement action against Iran-linked media and other websites.
At the time, visitors to the domain were shown a federal seizure notice stating that the website had been seized by the U.S. government under a seizure warrant. The notice said the action was carried out by the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Reuters also reported the seizure and identified Al-Masirah among the Houthi-linked websites affected.
Al-Masirah, also known as Al-Masirah TV, is a media network affiliated with the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah. Its website regularly carried reports on Houthi military activities, damage to people and property from attacks, the group's conflict with Saudi Arabia, and its positions on U.S. and Israeli military actions involving Iran.
The seizure was part of a broader U.S. action announced by the Justice Department on June 22, 2021. The department said it had seized 33 websites used by the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU) and three websites operated by Kata’ib Hizballah, saying the domains were being operated in violation of U.S. sanctions. The Justice Department said the seizures were carried out pursuant to court orders.
According to the Justice Department, IRTVU had been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in October 2020. The department said the 33 IRTVU domains were owned by a U.S. company and that the organization had not obtained an OFAC license before using the domains. The investigation involved the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, its Office of Export Enforcement and the FBI.
Reuters reported that several of the affected websites returned online through alternative domain names after the seizures. In the case of Al-Masirah, the network began using almasirah.com after the seizure of the .net domain.
The 2021 operation also affected other Iran-linked media websites, including Press TV and Al-Alam. The U.S. Justice Department's official announcement, however, specifically described the 36 domains as those used by IRTVU and Kata’ib Hizballah; it did not list Almasirah.net individually in the release. Reuters separately reported the seizure notice displayed on the Al-Masirah domain.
Al-Masirah's online presence continued through other domains and platforms after the seizure. Recent online material associated with the network also shows activity through other addresses, including masirahtv.net and almasirah.net.ye.
The Almasirah.net seizure therefore dates to June 2021, rather than being a newly announced U.S. government action in September 2026. No new U.S. Justice Department announcement confirming a separate 2026 seizure of the same domain was found in the official records reviewed for this report.
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