US Targets Hezbollah with New Sanctions to Reaffirm Group’s Ties to Iran - Sarmad

(Royters) – A statement reviewed by Reuters indicates that the United States will impose new sanctions today, Thursday, targeting the Lebanese Hezbollah group, including re-designating it under a terrorism-related authority, in a move aimed at underscoring its ties to the Iranian regime.

The group is not currently designated under any new authority, but the statement says the Treasury Department will re-designate it as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” entity, citing its “service to the Iranian regime under the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.”

A U.S. official said the designation aims to demonstrate that Hezbollah operates on behalf of the Iranian regime and to update the public record by linking this designation to the group’s activities in support of the IRGC’s Quds Force.

Hezbollah was first designated under this authority in 2001, and the United States also sanctions it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The United States also added a group of ten individuals to its sanctions lists today, Thursday, accusing them of smuggling cash to Hezbollah.

The U.S. official said the measures planned for today are separate from new steps the United States intends to take against Iran, as Washington seeks to end a war it launched alongside Israel about six months ago.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier on Thursday that he would hold a press conference next Monday to discuss the “most severe sanctions in history” that Washington plans to impose on Iran.