US sanctions Hezbollah finance network allegedly backed by Iran's IRGC

The US Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned five individuals and three companies accused of helping fund Hezbollah through a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network allegedly backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force.

“These evasion networks strengthen Iran and its proxy Hezbollah and undermine the courageous efforts of the Lebanese people to build a Lebanon for all its citizens,” said Bradley T. Smith, Acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence in a statement.

The individuals and companies designated are part of a network of revenue-generating commercial enterprises owned or controlled by Hezbollah that facilitate and mask oil sales for the IRGC's Quds Force while also providing Hezbollah with crucial access to the formal financial system, according to the Treasury.

The network, it said, was overseen by senior Hezbollah finance officials including Muhammad Qasir until his death in late 2024 and his son-in-law Muhammad Qasim al-Bazzal.

The Treasury said the network used front companies to disguise oil sales and other business activity that generated millions of dollars for Hezbollah.

It added that US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program is also offering up to $10 million for information that leads to the disruption of Hezbollah’s financial networks.

The US sanctions come on the same day Israel launched a major airstrike on southern Beirut for the first time since a November ceasefire in what it says was a response to a rocket attack from Lebanon.

The strike hit a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Dahiyeh area which Israel said was used to store drones by the Iran-backed Shi’ite militant group.