US Treasury Imposes Sanctions on Individuals Linked to Hezbollah's Financial Institution

SadaNews - The US Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting a "network involved in smuggling Iranian oil as if it were Iraqi oil, along with other sanctions on individuals connected to the (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) financial institution managed by Hezbollah in Lebanon."

The "US Treasury" listed 7 individuals associated with "Hezbollah" and "Al-Qard Al-Hasan" on the sanctions list. In a statement published on its website, it said: "The officials of the targeted (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) institution are playing vital roles in the activities supporting Hezbollah, and some of them have been linked to (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) for more than two decades."

The statement continued: "They have worked in the institution, and many of them previously held joint bank accounts in Lebanese financial institutions, coordinating with other affiliates of (Al-Qard Al-Hasan), and they conducted financial operations totaling millions of dollars that benefited (Hezbollah), but they concealed its interests through these operations." It added: "Many of these transactions showed a pattern similar to what was previously known as the 'secret bankers' who were classified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); where (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) officials conducted identical financial operations within the institution's accounts, alongside intermediary bank accounts within the official Lebanese financial system to conceal the flow of funds linked to known members of (Hezbollah)."

The Treasury noted that among those targeted by the sanctions is "Nima Ahmad Jamil, a senior official at (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) and head of its auditing and operations departments, who also manages financial services for (Hezbollah) and its affiliated institutions," pointing out that "for over 20 years, Jamil has provided financial services to (Al-Qard Al-Hasan)."

Another targeted individual is "Issa Hussein Qasir, a senior official at (Al-Qard Al-Hasan), overseeing the department responsible for supplying branches with equipment and managing purchasing and logistics operations. In this regard, Qasir opened bank accounts within the official financial system, using the name (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) to carry out business activities."

The sanctions also included Samer Hassan Fawaz, "the head of the administration department at (Al-Qard Al-Hasan), who is responsible for management and coordination with various companies that assist the institution in logistical and purchasing matters. He has served as the managing director of (Al-Qard Al-Hasan) since at least 2010."

Iraq

The department added in its statement that a network of companies run by Iraqi businessman Saleem Ahmad Saeed has been purchasing and shipping Iranian oil worth billions of dollars, disguised as Iraqi oil or blended with it, since at least 2020.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Pysent stated: "The department will continue to target Tehran's revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to impede the regime's access to financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities."

The department states that it has also imposed sanctions on several vessels accused of participating in concealing the transfer of Iranian oil, increasing pressure on the Iranian "shadow fleet."