(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The day before, the US Treasury already sanctioned the head of Iran's central bank and Iraq-based Al-Bilad Islamic Bank over alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Hezbollah movement, which Washington considers to be a terrorist group.
The US Treasury has imposed additional sanctions on six individuals, including Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the movement's deputy leader Naim Qassem.
In a statement on its website, the US Treasury Department said that it had imposed sanctions on the members of Hezbollah Shura council in partnership with Saudi Arabia and other Persian gulf Arab states.
"OFAC, together with Gulf partners, designated Hasan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hizballah. OFAC and the TFTC nations further designated Naim Qasim, Muhammad Yazbak, Husayn Al- Khalil, and Ibrahim al-Amin al-Sayyid pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism," the statement claimed.
Meanwhile, Saudi state news agency SPA reported that Saudi Arabia along with other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council had put 10 members of Hezbollah leadership on their terrorism lists.
Previously, Sheikh Naim Qassem said that Hezbollah would shield Lebanon from any schemes to "subordinate Lebanon [to foreigners]," adding that the United States and Israel "spare no efforts to attack Lebanon and impose sanctions" on the Shia organization.
Washington’s claims against Hezbollah come while the movement has been playing a significant role in the Syrian army’s fight against Takfiri terror groups, including Daesh and al-Nusra Front, thus preventing the spillover of the militancy gripping neighboring Syria into Lebanon.
Hezbollah was formed following the Israeli regime’s invasion of Lebanon and the ensuing occupation of its southern parts in 1980s, and currently constitutes Lebanon’s de facto military power.
Since then, the movement has helped the national army retake the occupied regions from Tel Aviv and thwart two Israeli acts of aggression in 2000 and 2006.
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