The United States Department of the Treasury announced this Thursday a new package of sanctions against nine individuals, among whom is the ambassador of Iran in Lebanon, whom they accuse of hindering efforts for the disarmament of the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah, considered by Washington as a terrorist organization.
According to details from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), among those sanctioned are four prominent figures from Hezbollah: Mohamed Abdel Motaleb Fanich, who "leads the executive council" of the Shiite group; and three deputies of the formation in the Lebanese Parliament, Ibrahim al Musawi, Huseín al Hajj Hasán, and Hasán Nizamedine Fadlallá. The latter has headed the Al Manar television channel and participated in the creation of the Al Nur station, two media outlets affiliated with Hezbollah that had already been subject to sanctions by the United States.
The U.S. government also extends sanctions to four other Lebanese citizens. Two of them, Ahmad Asaad Baalbaki and Alí Ahmad Safawi, act as security agents for the Shiite AMAL party, described by the Treasury itself as a "political ally and security partner of Hezbollah."
The other two individuals designated are part of the Lebanese Armed Forces: the head of the National Security Department, Brigadier General Jatar Naser Eldín, and the head of Army Intelligence in Dahiyé, Colonel Samir Hamadi, an area considered a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut. According to the Treasury's note, both "shared important intelligence information with Hezbollah during the ongoing conflict over the past year."
This same package also includes the ambassador of Iran in Lebanon, Mohamad Reza Sheibani, who had already been declared "persona non grata" by Lebanese authorities at the end of March, who also issued an expulsion order against him.
The Treasury stressed that "the Lebanese government demanded that security forces take strong measures to stop the activities of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has supported Hezbollah's military operations."
In the statement, the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, reiterated Washington's stance by stating that "Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and must be completely disarmed. The Treasury will continue to take action against officials who have infiltrated the Lebanese Government and who allow Hezbollah to carry out its senseless campaign of violence against the Lebanese people and hinder a lasting peace."