US sanctions individuals, entities over alleged Hezbollah ties
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The United States announced imposing sanctions on six individuals and eight entities allegedly linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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The US Treasury Department building (AP)
Six individuals and eight entities have been sanctioned by the US government for their alleged ties to Hezbollah, according to a statement released by the Treasury Department on Thursday.
"The following individuals have been added to OFAC's SDN List: ABDALLAH, Ahmad Jalal Reda... ABDALLAH, Ali Reda... ABDALLAH, Hussein Ahmad Jalal... ABDALLAH, Hussein Reda...ATTIA, Hussein Kamel... HAIDAMOUS, Joseph Ilya," the statement said.
This comes as Lebanon is grappling with a serious economic crisis which is considered one of the world's worst since the 1850s.
Furthermore, the entities the unilateral US sanctions targeted are Al Moukhtar Products Co., Focus Company, Focus Media Company, United General Contracting Company, United General Holding, United General Offshore, United General Services, and United International Exhibition Company.
The US Treasury Department also claimed that the latest sanctions are intended to disrupt businesses that are used "to generate revenue for Hezbollah's activities."
Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah is a Lebanese businessman, and the other five designated individuals are his associates. The eight designated entities are his companies in Lebanon and Iraq, the Treasury Department alleged.
It is worth mentioning that Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker made serious statements, ahead of Lebanon's parliamentary elections, about the US role played in the country by the administration of former US President Donald Trump in order to accelerate the country's financial collapse, as well as the administration's exploitation of the "October 17" movement to distort Hezbollah's image and weaken it along with its allies.
Several Lebanese parties have long warned against the role the US is playing in the Lebanese arena of politics and the fact that Washington was making every effort to incite strife and favor a party over another based on its whims and own narrow interests.
Schenker's words exposed the US interference in Lebanese politics, not to mention the substantial role it played in exacerbating the economic crisis the Lebanese have been under since 2019.
