Secretary of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee, Riad al-Hassan, welcomed Argentina’s designation of Hezbollah a terrorist organization. He said that tightening the international noose on Hezbollah and cutting off its arms everywhere in the world would deter it and Iran from committing more crimes and reduce their threat to the security and stability of the region, especially Syria.
Al-Hassan said that the announcement by the Argentine authorities to freeze the assets of Hezbollah and designate it a terrorist organization confirmed that this terrorist militia constituted a threat to international peace and security. He called on other countries to follow suit in order to dry up the party’s economic resources.
Al-Hassan said that this decision, which would end Hezbollah’s financial activities in the border area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, would deepen the party’s financial hardships, especially in light of the economic embargo imposed by the United States on Iran, the main backer of terrorist militias in the region.
“We expect to see a decline in the operations of the party and its activities in the coming days, which will reflect negatively on the terrorist project being carried out by the party and Iran.”
Al-Hassan expressed the hope that the Argentine move will be the first step to curb the economic and financial activities of Hezbollah across several continents, including Africa, Latin America and Asia. He pointed out that the majority of the party’s activities are criminal, including money laundering and drug trafficking.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri told the CNN Spanish that he was taking steps to brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization and freeze its assets. The nation’s Financial Information Unit took the action a day after Macri’s government created a list of terrorist organizations to help coordinate actions with other nations.
“At the present time, Hezbollah continues to represent a current and active threat to national security and the integrity of the financial, economic order of the Argentine Republic,” the Unit said.
The US Treasury earlier announced it was imposing sanctions on two Hezbollah MPs and a security official. It also closed down the bank accounts of Lebanese individuals who transferred money to the party, especially businessmen in North Africa who supported Hezbollah. In 2011, a Lebanese bank was closed in Canada for involvement in money laundering for Hezbollah. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
