Treasury Increases Sanctions on Hizballah and Targets Network Smuggling Millions in Cash for Hizballah

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating 10 individuals that are part of a network responsible for transferring cash to Hizballah. The network utilizes couriers travelling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Turkiye, the UAE, and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars between jurisdictions, providing an avenue outside the formal financial system for Hizballah to obtain foreign currency and evade sanctions. OFAC is also re-designating Hizballah for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Today’s action is being taken pursuant to the United States’ counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. The U.S. Department of State designated Hizballah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to E.O.