U.S. hits Hezbollah accountants in Lebanon with terrorism sanctions

The US has announced further sanctions on individuals and companies accused of providing financial services or helping with weapons procurement for Hezbollah.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two people and two companies based in Lebanon for providing financial services to Hezbollah, and one person involved in facilitating weapons procurement for the group, it said in a statement.

Those sanctioned on Thursday were Adel Mohamad Mansour, who the US says led a Hezbollah-run quasi-financial institution; Hassan Khalil, who is said to have worked to procure weapons on behalf of Hezbollah, and Naser Hassan Neser, who worked with an entity that provided financial services to the group.

The two companies sanctioned on Thursday for providing financial services to Hezbollah were named Al Khobara and Auditors for Accounting and Auditing, known simply as Auditors.

The company is run by Mr Mansour and the US said it provided services to and operates out of the building of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a charity-licensed banking institution formerly run by Mr Mansour and previously sanctioned by the US for being a Hezbollah front.

The US said Auditors was designated as it is owned, controlled or directed by Ibrahim Baher, who was designated in May 2021 for being a member of Hezbollah and the head of its central finance unit.

Founded in 1982 by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and classified by the US and other Western countries as a “terrorist organisation,” Hezbollah is a powerful group in Lebanon because of a heavily armed militia that fought several wars with Israel.

Last month, the US issued sanctions against an international oil smuggling network it said supports Hezbollah and Iran's Quds Force, targeting dozens of people, companies and tankers.