Hezbollah hit with new US sanctions

TAKING AIM AT IRAN, WASHINGTON TARGETS 6 PEOPLE AND 7 BUSINESSES LINKED TO GROUP

The campaign comes as the Trump administration works to undermine Iran’s ability to stoke unrest in the region.

Taking aim at Iran’s global footprint, the Trump administration yesterday hit six people and seven businesses linked to Hezbollah with terror sanctions, calling it “the first wave” in a pressure campaign that will escalate throughout the year.

The sanctions aim to squeeze Hezbollah financier Adham Tabaja, who is already designated by the US as a global terrorist, by freezing out a network of companies in Lebanon, Ghana, Liberia and elsewhere. The Trump administration said companies and their executives act on Tabaja’s behalf, forming “conduits” of funding for the Lebanonbased militant group.

“We will be relentless in identifying, exposing, and dismantling Hezbollah’s financial support networks globally,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

Senior Trump administration officials said the US estimates Iran sends Hezbollah about $700 million per year, arguing that Hezbollah has become the Iranian government’s primary tool to project its power in the Arabic-speaking world.

Trump officials said there were “dozens” more financial networks linked to Hezbollah that could be targeted.

The first wave of penalties target Al Inmaa Engineering Contracting, a company run by Tabaja and based in Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut. The construction company is mostly active in predominantly Shiite areas in Lebanon such as Beirut’s southern suburbs and the southern market town of Nabatiyeh.