The U.S. Urges Lebanon to Prevent Hezbollah's Access to Financial Sector

A senior U.S. Treasury official, during a trip to Beirut, has asked Lebanese officials to prevent Hezbollah's access to the financial and monetary sectors, as well as to curb "Iran's interference" in the country. Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, during a two-day visit to Lebanon on January 23, urged Beirut officials to "take all possible steps to ensure that [Hezbollah] has no presence in the financial sector." According to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Billingslea also emphasized that "Iran's destructive interference in Lebanon must be stopped." The U.S. Treasury official met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and several other political and banking officials. The U.S. designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. However, within Lebanon, the group has significant military influence and is also present in the government and parliament. The United States claims that the Islamic Republic finances Hezbollah, but the group also utilizes a human network, various activities, and money laundering to fund itself. Currently, a truth committee in the United States is investigating the previous administration's actions during a project known as "Cassandra." Recently, the American publication Politico reported that drug enforcement officials in the Obama administration initiated a project to track Hezbollah's role in drug trafficking and other activities; however, as nuclear negotiations with Iran progressed, the Cassandra project faced obstacles and was ultimately halted. Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, described the allegations regarding the group's potential involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering as "baseless" and denied them. Hezbollah faces extensive U.S. sanctions. In November, the U.S. House of Representatives passed three new bills that impose sanctions on all individuals, entities, and companies cooperating with Hezbollah in financing and recruitment. Subsequently, sanctions against Iran and Hezbollah were approved due to "using civilians as human shields," and the European Union was asked to list the group as a terrorist organization. On October 10, the U.S. State Department offered millions of dollars in rewards for information leading to the arrest of two Hezbollah members.