US Treasury announced Thursday that it has sanctioned Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese lawmakers, security officials and allies, accusing them of seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group’s influence over Lebanese state institutions and to obstruct disarmament efforts. The Treasury announcement came as pressure has intensified on Beirut to take more decisive steps toward disarming the group amid the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department will keep taking action against officials it accused of infiltrating Lebanon’s government, adding that Hezbollah has waged what he called a “senseless campaign of violence against the Lebanese people.” Treasury said the sanctions deny the listed parties access to any property or financial assets held in the United States, and it said it was the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials.
Treasury said the measures targeted two currently serving officials—one from Lebanon’s General Security agency and another from the military intelligence—who were accused of providing Hezbollah with “illicit support” and intelligence during the ongoing conflict. Alongside the security officials, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned a set of Hezbollah-affiliated political figures, including former cabinet minister and senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Fneish, as well as senior Hezbollah parliamentarians Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim al-Moussawi and Hussein Hajj Hassan.
The Treasury announcement also said Mohammad Reza Sheibani, the Iranian Ambassador designate to Lebanon, was among those sanctioned. It came after Lebanon’s foreign ministry ordered him to leave Beirut, according to the Associated Press report.
The Treasury department linked the sanctioned individuals to efforts it said undermine Lebanon’s ability to disarm the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization. Hezbollah, a group that has been designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the United States since 1997, has dismissed the disarmament push and has rejected calls—locally and internationally—for its disarmament.
The announcement arrived while Lebanese and Israeli officials were holding low-level talks in Washington aimed at ending the monthslong war between Israel and Hezbollah. The Associated Press reported that military officials from both sides are expected to hold their first direct talks in the Pentagon on May 29, as Israel continues to press Lebanon to disarm the group and as Beirut urges Israel to end its daily airstrikes and withdraw its troops from large parts of southern Lebanon.
Separately, Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday killed at least 19 people, including four women and three children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Hezbollah has rejected the talks approach being discussed and instead backs Iran’s talks with the United States, which the report said have been mediated by Pakistan.
For Lebanon’s government, the U.S. action adds to the diplomatic pressure around disarmament. In early 2025, the Associated Press reported, Lebanon’s president and prime minister came to power on a reformist platform that pledged to disarm all non-state groups, including Hezbollah, while authorities in Beirut have said they worry that a more confrontational approach could risk armed conflict in the small Mediterranean country.