U.S. Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken said in a press release on Tuesday that the department is designating seven inpiduals involved in financial operations with Hezbollah's ties to continue to impede the group's ability to operate in the global financial system.
The press release added that the U.S. is designating these inpiduals for acting for or on behalf of Hezbollah or Al-Qard al-Hassan foundation (AQAH), which provides cover for Hizballah’s financial activity.
While AQAH claims to serve the Lebanese people, in practice it is transferring money illegally through fake accounts and facilitators, which exposes Lebanese financial institutions to the risk of penalties related to doing business with a designated entity.
Moreover, by storing cash that the Lebanese economy desperately needs, al-Qaeda enables Hezbollah to build its own support base and endanger the stability of the Lebanese state.
"One of the seven inpiduals designated, Ibrahim Ali Daher, serves as the director of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit, which oversees the group’s overall budget and spending. The remaining inpiduals designated used the cover of personal accounts to evade sanctions targeting AQAH and transferred approximately $500 million on behalf of AQAH," the press release stated.
"The threat that Hezbollah poses to the United States, our allies, and interests in the Middle East and globally, calls for countries around the world to take steps to restrict its activities and disrupt its facilitation networks," Blinken said in the press release.
"We applaud the countries in Europe, and South and Central America that have taken action against Hizballah in recent years and call on other governments around the world to follow suit."
The seven Inpiduals Linked to Hezbollah Financing are Ibrahim Ali Daher, Izzat Youssef Aker, Mustafa Habib Harb, Hassan Shehadeh Othman, Waheed Mahmoud Sbeity, as well as Ahmed Mohamed Yazbek, and Abbas Hassan Gharib
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