US Treasury sanctions 6 individuals, 8 firms with ties to Hezbollah

ANKARA – The US Treasury Department has announced that it imposed sanctions on six individuals and eight companies that have ties with Hezbollah.

The Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated sanctions against Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah_ a Lebanese businessman and Hezbollah financial facilitator_ as well as five of his associates and eight of his companies in Lebanon and Iraq.

“Hezbollah has built a web of businesses to hide its activities and generate funds for its destabilizing activities, all at the expense of accountability and public safety in Lebanon and the region,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in a statement.

The agency said Abdallah used senior employees and relatives to establish new businesses throughout the Middle East on behalf of Hezbollah.

He also established food companies, which are sanctioned by the OFAC, because he perceived those sectors as less likely to be targets of sanctions, it added.

The companies sanctioned, which are mostly incorporated in Lebanon and operate in Iraq, are subsidiaries of United General Holding which is involved in construction and engineering projects.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Lebanese political party and resistance group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah’s paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Hezbollah supports the Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation.