The Treasury Department sanctioned three members of Hezbollah, including two lawmakers, for assisting Iran and providing support to its forces.
Hezbollah members of the Lebanese Parliament, Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra’d, and top Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa have all been slapped with sanctions according to a Tuesday announcement. The move marks the first time the United States has sanctioned members of parliament.
“Hizballah 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” Sigal Mandelker, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said.
“The United States will continue to support efforts of the Lebanese government to protect its institutions from exploitation by Iran and its terrorist proxies, and to secure a more peaceful and prosperous future for Lebanon,” he added.
The Treasury Department said that all three men have ties to Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The release reaffirms the U.S. position that there is no difference between Hezbollah’s military and political activities. Hezbollah, formed in the 1980s and backed by Iran and Syria, is both a political party and paramilitary organization. The U.S. has declared both entities a singular terrorist organization.
The sanctions come amid tension between the U.S. and Iran and its proxies in the Middle East. This week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that his country had enriched uranium beyond the threshold set forth by the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the U.S. withdrew from last year.
Last month, the U.S. planned to strike Iranian facilities in response to its downing of a U.S. drone, but Trump called off the move at the last moment. The U.S. also recently imposed new sanctions against Iran, targeting its leader and top officials, and announced that it was sending an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East after a pair of oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
