The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 10 individuals who are part of a network responsible for transferring cash to Hezbollah.
According to a press release issued by the Treasury Department, the network uses couriers travelling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Turkiye, the UAE and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars between jurisdictions.
The network provides Hezbollah with an avenue outside the formal financial system to obtain foreign currency and evade sanctions, OFAC claimed.
“OFAC is also re-designating Hizballah for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF),” the release said.
The action was taken under the United States’ counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended.
The Treasury Department said the US State Department designated Hizballah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under E.O. 13224 on October 31, 2001, for having committed, or posing a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.
The Treasury Department also said Hezbollah and its allies exploit various financing schemes, including oil smuggling, illicit shipping, commodities sales and bulk cash smuggling, to generate and move funds across the region.
“The network targeted today, which was once associated with now-deceased IRGC-QF finance official Behnam Shahriyari, is one example of the methods used to funnel support to terrorist proxy groups throughout the region,” the release said.
–IANS
