The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Thursday on a bloc of Hezbollah-affiliated lawmakers and two sitting Lebanese security officials, the first time Washington has directly targeted state security personnel in Lebanon. The Treasury accused the sanctioned individuals of providing the Iran-backed militant group with “illicit support” and intelligence, and of working to preserve Hezbollah’s influence over Lebanese state institutions while obstructing disarmament efforts.
The sanctions hit four sitting Hezbollah parliamentarians: Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim al-Moussawi, and Hussein Hajj Hassan, as well as former cabinet minister and senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Fneish. All have publicly pushed against efforts to disarm the group, according to the Treasury.
The two security officials — Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb Fanich of the General Security agency and Mohammad Reza Sheibani of military intelligence — are accused of funneling support and intelligence to Hezbollah during the ongoing conflict. The Treasury said the move was intended to disrupt Hezbollah’s ability to “exploit Lebanese state institutions for its own benefit,” in the words of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The announcement comes as pressure grows on the Lebanese government to enforce disarmament provisions that have been a central demand of international mediators and Israel. Hezbollah, which is both a political party and a heavily armed militia, has resisted calls to disarm, and its influence within Lebanon’s security apparatus has been a recurring point of friction in ceasefire negotiations. The sanctions were announced as Lebanon and Israel continue to navigate a fragile truce, with earlier rounds of violence having killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.
The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of the designated individuals and generally prohibit Americans from doing business with them. Thursday’s action is the latest in a series of U.S. financial measures aimed at Hezbollah’s network, following earlier sanctions on individuals and entities tied to the group’s financing and weapons procurement.