The Syrian Coalition welcomed the decision by the United States and Arab Gulf states to impose new sanctions on the Lebanese Hezbollah leadership, targeting its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy Naim Qassem. The Coalition described the decision as an important step to limit the influence of Hezbollah militia as it has been involved in the killings against the Syrian people.
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday said four other individuals were also sanctioned, adding that Wednesday’s sanctions targeted members of the primary decision-making body of Hezbollah.
The Department added that the sanctions targeted Head of Hezbollah’s Political Council Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyid, Chairman of the Shari’a Committee Mohammad Yazbek, and Nasrallah’s assistant for political affairs Hussein Khalil.
“Under the dictates of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), secretary general and head of the Shura Council, Hasan Nasrallah, is prolonging the human suffering in Syria, fueling the violence in Iraq and Yemen, putting the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people at risk, and destabilizing the entire region.” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
A senior White House official said the sanctions were part of a campaign aimed at Hezbollah to limit Iran’s influence in the region, which funds Hezbollah with about $700 million annually to carry out its operations and activities around the world.
The measures were imposed jointly by Washington and its partners in the Terrorist Financing and Targeting Center (TFTC), which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, Mnuchin said.
The Syrian Coalition has repeatedly stressed the need to limit the role of all militias supporting the Assad regime, including the Hezbollah militias which is helping the Assad regime in its crimes against Syrians and whose policies turned out to be a disaster affecting the Lebanese people as a whole. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
