Mehr News – The US Treasury Department on Friday announced sanctions against “financial facilitators” and companies connected to Hezbollah.
The three people — Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun and Jihad Salem Alame — and 10 companies targeted by the new sanctions helped Hezbollah obtain funds through global “networks of companies that disguise themselves as legitimate businesses,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday.
“Through businessmen like those designated today, [the group] gains access to material and financial support through the legitimate commercial sector to fund its acts of terrorism and attempts to destabilize Lebanon’s political institutions,” Treasury’s statement claimed. Hezbollah’s actions “threaten the security, stability, and sovereignty of the Lebanese people,” Blinken claimed.
“The sanctions evasion efforts of those designated today are a stark example of how [the group] abuses the international financial system to fund its acts of terrorism and illicit activities,” the statement continued its claims.
The sanctions freeze the three individuals’ assets in the United States and make it a potential crime for American citizens to do business with them. The US designated Hezbollah as a “terrorist” organisation in 1997, but Hezbollah has rejected the label.
In recent decades, Hezbollah in Lebanon has been an important factor in the recapture of large parts of Lebanon’s occupied territories from the Zionist regime, and Hezbollah’s deterrent power has prevented the Zionists from invading Lebanese territory.
The United States and the Zionist regime have been working for years to reduce Hezbollah’s popularity in Lebanon. In this regard, Washington has put strong pressure on European countries to declare Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
These measures are taken while Hezbollah is one of the most important and popular political parties in Lebanon.
