The U.S. Sanctions Hezbollah Representative in Iran and Five Related Companies

On Thursday, May 17, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against two members of Hezbollah Lebanon and five entities associated with the group. The Treasury stated that Abdullah Safi al-Din, Hezbollah's representative in Iran, and Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a financier for Hezbollah, have been sanctioned. According to the report, five companies linked to Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi and Hezbollah have also been sanctioned. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned an energy services company in Belgium, an oil and petroleum production company based in Gambia, an Africa-Middle East investment company based in Lebanon, and an import-export company based in Lebanon. Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, stated that the U.S. government will expose and disrupt Hezbollah's and Iran's terror networks whenever possible, including those linked to the Central Bank of Iran. The Treasury accused Abdullah Safi al-Din and Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi of attempting to improve relations between Iran and Gambia as part of their programs in Africa. Mnuchin emphasized that the sanctions against these individuals and entities highlight the shameful actions of Hezbollah and its supporter, the Iranian government. Under these sanctions, all assets and properties of these individuals and institutions in the United States are blocked, and any cooperation and transactions with them are prohibited. In this context, the U.S. and Gulf Arab countries jointly sanctioned Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, and Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, the day before. The U.S. also sanctioned Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Tuesday for allegedly providing millions of dollars in financial resources to Hezbollah. In addition to Valiollah Seif, Ali Tarzali, the Deputy Director-General of the International Department of the Central Bank of Iran, the Islamic Bank 'Al-Bilad' based in Iraq, Karim Aras Habib, the CEO of this bank, and Mohammad Qasir, the financial liaison between the Quds Force of the IRGC and Hezbollah, were also added to the U.S. sanctions list on Tuesday. This comes as the U.S. added six individuals and three legal entities from Iran to the sanctions list last week for 'millions of dollars in financial transfers to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.' The U.S. has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization since 1997. U.S. officials and Washington's allies, including Saudi Arabia and Israel, have consistently warned about the growing power of Hezbollah around the world. A U.S. State Department official previously stated, 'The Iranian government created Hezbollah and financially supports it to promote instability throughout the region and the world. All of this is at the expense of the Iranian people... The people of Iran and Lebanon deserve better than this.' Hezbollah militants are among the most significant forces supporting Bashar al-Assad's government in the Syrian civil war. Over the past seven years of the Syrian civil war, hundreds of thousands have been killed, and millions have been displaced from their homes.