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🇱🇧 Lebanon /Elections & Politics

US hits Hezbollah with more sanctions, says Iran controls it

From Naharnet · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting an alleged Hezbollah financing network, highlighting the group's ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
  • The U.S. redesignated Hezbollah as operating in service to the Iranian regime under the command of the IRGC's Quds Force, emphasizing it is an Iranian proxy, not a Lebanese resistance movement.
  • The sanctions target 10 individuals involved in a network that moves hundreds of millions of dollars outside the formal financial system between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE, and Iran.

The United States imposed fresh sanctions on Thursday against a network accused of financing Hezbollah, asserting that the Lebanese militant group operates directly under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This underscores that Hezbollah operates with little to no regard for Lebanese sovereignty, the Lebanese people, or the Lebanese state.

— State Department officialExplaining the implications of the new U.S. designation of Hezbollah.

The Treasury Department amended Hezbollah's legal designation to explicitly state it serves the Iranian regime, particularly the elite Quds Force. This move aims to underscore that Hezbollah functions as an Iranian proxy, contradicting its self-description as a Lebanese resistance movement. A State Department official noted this redesignation highlights Hezbollah's disregard for Lebanese sovereignty and its integration with the IRGC-QF.

This action builds on years of U.S. designations that have repeatedly documented the operational, financial, and logistical integration between Hezbollah and the IRGC-QF.

— State Department officialDescribing the U.S. government's long-standing view of the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The new sanctions target 10 individuals allegedly facilitating the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars. This network reportedly uses couriers to move cash between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE, and Iran, bypassing formal financial systems to help Hezbollah acquire foreign currency and evade existing sanctions. The U.S. has previously sanctioned Hezbollah numerous times.

It is not a Lebanese resistance movement.

— State Department officialContrasting Hezbollah's self-portrayal with the U.S. government's assessment.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Naharnet. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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