The United States has imposed sanctions on financial entities linked to Hezbollah, the State and Treasury Departments announced.
According to the State Department, the “actors have supported sanctions evasion schemes involving Hizballah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan (AQAH) and an Iran-based Hizballah finance team operative.” The terrorist entity uses “AQAH as a financial institution to undermine the Lebanese state and fund its terrorist activities.”
The sanctions align with President Trump’s policy to place “maximum pressure against Iran’s regime and its terrorist proxies like Hizballah,” the State Department added, further stating that the nation will “continue using every tool at its disposal to ensure that Hizballah can no longer obstruct Lebanon’s regeneration or pose a threat to the United States and its interests.”
President Trump’s national security memo declared that “Iran’s behavior threatens the national interest of the United States,” and noted that it is in the “national interest to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program, and stop its support for terrorist groups.”
Meanwhile, the Department of the Treasury explained that the sanctions aim to disrupt the two arms of Hezbollah’s economic stability, which were described as “revenue generation in coordination with the Iranian regime and exploitation of Lebanon’s informal financial sector.” In a similar explanation to that of the State Department, the Treasury added that the AQAH masks as a non-governmental organization through a Ministry of Interior-granted NGO license, but provides services similar to a bank.
“Hizballah is a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury will work to cut these terrorists off from the global financial system to give Lebanon a chance to be peaceful and prosperous again.”
