The US Treasury added three top Hezbollah figures to its list of sanctioned individuals on Tuesday, including two members of Lebanon's parliament and a security official responsible for coordinating between Hezbollah and Lebanon's security agencies.
The officials are suspected of using their positions to further the aims of the Tehran-backed militia and "bolster Iran's malign activities."
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The designations were part of US efforts to counter the Iranian-backed Hezbollah's "corrupting influence in Lebanon," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
It was the first time the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had designated a member of Lebanon's Parliament under a sanctions list targeting those accused of providing support to terrorist organizations. Washington has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Trump administration officials said the action makes clear that there is no dividing line between Hezbollah's political and militant wings.
OFAC said it had added Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra'ad, both members of Lebanon's Parliament, for acting on behalf of Hezbollah. In an unusual move, it also released photos of the individuals, including one in which Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani has his arm around Sherri's shoulder.
OFAC said it also designated Wafiq Safa, who is in charge of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, responsible for coordinating with Lebanese security agencies.
Pompeo said the three officials "have exploited their positions to smuggle illicit goods into Lebanon, pressure Lebanese financial institutions to assist Hezbollah, undermine Lebanese institutions, and evade US sanctions against Hezbollah facilitators and financiers."
"Hezbollah uses its operatives in Lebanon's parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group's financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran's malign activities," said Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
The action by the US Treasury bars US citizens from dealing with the three individuals and blocks any assets they may hold in the United States. It also limits their ability to access the US financial system.
The Treasury Department alleges that Sherri has used his influence to pressure financial institutions to help Hezbollah limit the impact of US sanctions. Sherri threatened Lebanese bank officials and their family members after the bank froze the accounts of a Hezbollah member already sanctioned by the US, according to a statement issued by the department.
Ra'ad, the other lawmaker sanctioned, was elected to Hezbollah's Shura Council in 2009 and is part of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's inner circle. He also is the leader of the Hezbollah lawmakers' bloc, which works in the parliament to carry out the group's agenda.
Treasury said that in 2017, Ra'ad met with Hezbollah businessmen Adham Tabaja and Husayn Ali Fa'ur, who was sanctioned by the US in 2015, to make sure the group's avenues of funding would remain open despite sanctions. Ra'ad and Safa maintained a list of a hundred Hezbollah members who were to acquire foreign passports so they could be sent on long-term missions to Arab and Western countries, the department said.
Since 1987, Safa has been responsible for Hezbollah's coordination with the international community and with Lebanese security agencies. Treasury officials alleged that he exploited Lebanon's ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband, including illegal drugs and weapons, and facilitate travel for members of the group.
A Trump administration official who briefed reporters on the sanctions said the United States wanted the designations to have a "chilling effect" on anyone who does business with Hezbollah.
"The message is actually that the rest of the Lebanese government needs to sever its dealings with these figures that we're designating today," a State Department official said.
Lebanon's finance minister, Ali Hassan Khalil, denounced the sanctions and said they did nothing to foster financial stability in the country. "There is no justification whatsoever for escalating these sanctions," he tweeted.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad described the US move as "an insult to all the Lebanese people." He told reporters the Lebanese government must take a stand against the sanctions because they infringe on Lebanese sovereignty.
