US imposes sanctions on Hezbollah
WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions
on three businessmen with ties to Hezbollah, saying their activity as financial
facilitators for the Iran-backed group was exploiting Lebanon's economic
resources at a time of crisis for that country.
The Treasury Department has added Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad
Daoun, Jihad Salem Alame, and their company Dar Al Salam for Travel & Tourism,
to its sanctions list, the department said in a statement.
“Through businessmen like those designated today, Hezbollah
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,” the US Treasury said in the statement.
Commenting on the sanctions, the US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said the “US stands in solidarity with the Lebanese people,
whose security and sovereignty remains threatened by Hezbollah’s corrupt and
destabilizing activities.”
The group continues to engage in illicit activity and amass
wealth at the expense of the Lebanese people, Blinken said.
“It is clear Hezbollah and its associates are more concerned
with advancing their own interests and those of their patron, Iran, than the
best interests of the Lebanese people,” he added.
Lebanon's economy has been in crisis since 2019 when it
collapsed under a mountain of debt. Its currency plunged to a new low last
week, and swathes of the nation have been driven into poverty.
Lebanon's cabinet will hold its first meeting in three
months next week, local media reported on Monday, after Hezbollah and another
group, Amal, ended their boycott of the cabinet at the weekend.
The two groups, which back several ministers, had been
boycotting the cabinet in a dispute over the conduct of an investigation into a
huge explosion at Beirut's port in 2020.
The US Treasury said Tuesday's action requires all property
owned by the three men and their business that is in the United States to be
blocked and reported to the department, and that all transactions related to
the property by US citizens be prohibited.
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