US Sanctions 10 Individuals Over Funding Network for Pro-Iran Group Hezbollah

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on the 20th (local time) that it has designated 10 individuals belonging to a funding movement network for Lebanon's pro-Iran militant group Hezbollah as sanctions targets.

According to OFAC, this network utilized commercial flights between Lebanon, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Iran to move hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, helping Hezbollah bypass sanctions and secure foreign currency.

OFAC pointed out that the network was connected to the late Behnam Shahriyari, a financial official of the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stating, "Hezbollah and its sympathizers exploit financing schemes involving oil smuggling, illicit shipping, commodity sales, and bulk cash smuggling to raise and move funds."

OFAC also stated that Hezbollah is cooperating for the Iranian regime under the command of the Quds Force, redesignating Hezbollah as a sanctions target.

Meanwhile, OFAC announced that it has sanctioned 15 Ecuador-based fisheries-related companies and individuals who transported thousands of kilograms of cocaine per month from South America to Mexico to smuggle drugs into the United States, and frozen 10 vessels used by them.

(Photo: Getty Images)
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