The U.S. administration has designated Hezbollah as an Iranian arm as part of sanctions imposed on the terrorist organization. Reuters reported Thursday evening, citing a notice it obtained that has not yet been officially released, that the move is another step against the Iranian axis.
According to Reuters, the U.S. Treasury Department is now redesignating Hezbollah as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” because of its “for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.”
Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon
(Photo: Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
A U.S. official told Reuters that the redesignation is intended to demonstrate that Hezbollah operates on behalf of the Iranian regime. Hezbollah was first designated a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” in 2001, but not under the new rationale now added to the designation. It also faces U.S. sanctions under a separate designation as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
In addition, the U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on a group of 10 people whom it accused of smuggling cash for Hezbollah. The U.S. official said the measures announced Thursday evening are separate from additional actions the United States plans to take against Iran soon, as part of the economic pressure campaign that President Donald Trump hopes will force the ayatollahs’ regime to compromise in an agreement to end the war.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier Thursday that he would hold a news conference Monday regarding the “toughest sanctions in history” that Washington plans to impose on Iran.