Iraq Adds Hezbollah to Banking Sanctions List
Iraqi authorities have added the Lebanese Hezbollah to the banking sanctions list, based on the amended U.S. Executive Order 13224 on combating terrorism, citing what it described as the continued operation of funding and logistical support networks linked to the group.
The decision entails imposing restrictions on banking and financial transactions associated with the names listed under the sanctions framework.
In this context, it was reported that Iraqi banking restrictions have been imposed on Mahmoud Qammati, deputy head of the party’s Political Council.
Banking restrictions were also reported against former minister and leader of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, who is subject to U.S. sanctions.
A document issued by the Iraqi Fund for External Development, affiliated with the Ministry of Finance, revealed the dissemination of new U.S. sanctions across departments, banks, agencies, and companies under the ministry’s purview. These sanctions include networks accused of financing the “Daesh” (ISIS) organization, as well as several individuals and entities linked to Hezbollah.
According to the document, signed by Zafir Mahdi Abdullah, head of the Iraqi Fund for External Development, two copies of letters from the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, American Affairs Department, dated June 30, 2026, were attached. These letters concerned two packages of sanctions announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on June 18 and 22 of the previous year.
The document clarified that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on three individuals and six entities operating in Europe, the Middle East, and West Africa, accusing them of facilitating financial transfers for the benefit of Daesh.
The circular pointed to other U.S. sanctions targeting individuals and entities linked to Hezbollah, under the amended U.S. Executive Order 13224, as part of the continued targeting of funding and logistical support networks that Washington has stated Hezbollah relies upon.
The Fund requested that departments, banks, agencies, and companies under the Iraqi Ministry of Finance review the content of the measures and take necessary action. This step practically serves as a warning to Iraqi institutions regarding the listed names and entities, and calls for enhanced due diligence on any potential transactions or financial transfers linked to them.
According to its content, the document does not include an independent Iraqi decision to classify Hezbollah in its entirety or to add it to a new Iraqi list. Rather, it disseminates U.S. sanctions issued by the Department of the Treasury against individuals and companies that Washington has declared linked to the group, instructing Iraqi financial and administrative institutions to take the required measures.
Previously, on June 18, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions on two Lebanese officials it stated were allied with Hezbollah: Frangieh and Qammati, in addition to individuals and companies within a business network overseen by Ala’ Hassan Hamieh, which operates in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and another country.
The sanctions covered a network of companies that the U.S. Treasury confirmed were involved in raising funds, executing contracts, and operating commercial fronts to generate revenue for Hezbollah. These included “Al-Shifa for Administrative Services Ltd.,” which was established in Iraq, as well as companies operating in the fields of technology, trade, investment, services, and insurance.
According to the U.S. account, “Al-Shifa” was established in July 2025 as part of a network linked to Ala’ Hamieh. It was ostensibly intended to operate in the field of insurance services management. However, the U.S. Treasury considered it part of a broader commercial network linked to the financing of Hezbollah, which explains the direct Iraqi interest in disseminating the sanctions to financial and official entities.
On June 22, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed a separate package of sanctions on three individuals, six companies, and financial services, alleging that they facilitated the transfer of funds between ISIS branches in various parts of the world, using money transfer companies, financial remittances, and digital assets.
The measures targeted Miloud Abdelrahman, a resident of France; Abdelhakim Boukesh, a resident of Syria; and Mokhtar Adam Mohammed in Nigeria, along with money transfer companies operating in Syria, Turkey, and Nigeria, including “Bitcoin Exchange” and the companies “Spider” and “Al-Karam,” as well as three Nigerian exchange offices.
