Iraq: Sanctions on figures and entities linked to financing Lebanese Hezbollah - Sarmad

Iraqi authorities have issued new directives to financial institutions to implement a package of U.S. sanctions targeting financing networks for the “ISIS” (Daesh) group, as well as individuals and entities linked to Hezbollah. This comes amid escalating debate within Iraq over the future of Iran-aligned armed factions and their role in the security and political landscape.

On Wednesday, Iraq’s Ministry of Finance directed government financial institutions to enforce the new U.S. sanctions, in a circular issued by the Iraqi Foreign Investment Development Fund, based on requests from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Minister of Finance, and in accordance with recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The document, which has been circulated on social media, shows that OFAC sanctioned three individuals and six entities in Europe, the Middle East, and West Africa, accusing them of facilitating financial transfers in support of ISIS.

The measures also included entities linked to Hezbollah, under amended U.S. Executive Order 13224, which aims to disrupt “terrorist financing networks and their associated logistical support.”

U.S. Pressure on Armed Factions

The Iraqi decision comes as U.S. pressure on Baghdad intensifies to address the file of Iran-aligned armed factions, which has become one of the most sensitive issues.

Most of these factions, collectively known as the “Popular Mobilization Forces” (PMF), trace their origins to 2014, when Iraqi clerics capable of bearing arms called for fighting ISIS. The PMF currently comprises approximately 240,000 fighters, with an annual budget of around $3.5 billion.