The US on Thursday imposed sanctions on Hezbollah’s former candidate for the Lebanese presidency as well as the deputy head of the group’s political council.
The Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control was also designating people in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Oman who it said were raising funds and operating front companies to generate revenue for the Iran-backed militant group.
Sleiman Frangieh, scion of a prominent northern Lebanese political family and leader of the Marada Movement, was accused of using “his strategic alliance with Hezbollah to benefit his own political ambitions”. He leads a small political party that courts virtually no support outside his hometown of Zgharta.
Mr Frangieh was also a childhood friend of ousted Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.
“Frangieh accepted financial support from Hizballah in exchange for supporting Hizballah’s efforts to target the parliamentary seats of reformist and independent members of parliament in Lebanese parliamentary elections,” said the US Treasury.
Hezbollah previously supported Mr Frangieh, a Maronite Christian, in a presidential race that eventually saw army commander Joseph Aoun elected head of state last January.
Mr Frangieh said in a statement after the sanctions were announced that they "do not concern" him. He said that this was "especially since our charge is that we stand with a component from our country against an enemy that occupies our land and kills our people".
"We were and still are for peace, but against surrender," he added.
The US sanctions also name the deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, Mahmoud Qamati, whom it accused of co-ordinating cash smuggling from Iran for Hezbollah as well as advocating for the group's interests in Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had spoken to Syria's leader about combating Hezbollah in Lebanon amid concerns the group will benefit from cash infusions from Iran after a US-Iranian interim memorandum of understanding was signed this week in a move toward ending the war on Iran.
The deal is expected to halt hostilities across all fronts, including Lebanon, where Hezbollah fired at Israel in solidarity with Tehran on March 2, igniting an Israeli offensive that has killed thousands and led Israel to invade southern Lebanon.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Hezbollah must disarm in order for Lebanon to achieve a secure future.
"Treasury will continue to target Hezbollah's financial networks and hold accountable those who enable the group to undermine the Lebanese state and threaten prospects for lasting peace,” he said in a statement.
Entities named in the sanctions include Globe SARL, the technical arm of a Hezbollah-linked Syria-based company Al Ahd Company for Trade and Investment, for its links to the sanctioned Alaa Hamieh business network, as well as Al Shafa Administrative Services Ltd and its chief executive Wael Constanteen, for links to Alaa Hamieh.
