US sanctions alleged Hezbollah financing network

The United States announced new sanctions Thursday against 10 people allegedly linked to a Hezbollah cash-transfer network, while amending the Lebanese armed group's designation to stress what Washington says are its ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The Treasury Department said Hezbollah's designation now says the group operates in “service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” particularly the Quds Force.

A State Department official said the change specifies that Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy, not a stand-alone operation as implied by the previous designation. The official said Hezbollah operates with little regard for Lebanese sovereignty, the Lebanese people or the Lebanese state.

The Treasury Department said the new sanctions target 10 people allegedly involved in a network that transfers cash to Hezbollah. It said the network uses couriers travelling on commercial flights between Lebanon, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars outside the formal financial system.

Washington designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and updated the label in 2001 to a specially designated global terrorist group.

The move comes as the United States facilitates direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, which remain technically at war. Hezbollah rejects those talks.

Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in March in support of Iran. Israel responded with an air campaign and ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.