New York, August 2026 : The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on 10 individuals accused of being part of a network involved in transferring large amounts of cash to Hezbollah, alleging that the group used couriers and commercial air routes to move funds across the region.
According to a statement issued by the Treasury Department, the network allegedly relied on couriers travelling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. The couriers were reportedly used to transfer as much as hundreds of millions of dollars between jurisdictions, allowing Hezbollah to obtain foreign currency outside the formal financial system and evade US sanctions.
“The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating 10 individuals that are part of a network responsible for transferring cash to Hizballah,” the department said.
The latest action was taken under the US government's counterterrorism sanctions authority, Executive Order 13224, as amended. The Treasury Department said the measures were intended to disrupt financial channels that facilitate support for Hezbollah and other organisations designated by Washington as terrorist groups.
OFAC also announced the re-designation of Hezbollah for providing services to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
The Treasury Department reiterated that the US State Department designated Hezbollah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organisation under Executive Order 13224 on October 31, 2001. The designation was based on Washington’s assessment that Hezbollah had committed, or posed a significant risk of committing, terrorist acts threatening US nationals and US national security, foreign policy or economic interests.
The Treasury said Hezbollah and its associates have employed a range of financial mechanisms to generate and transfer funds across the Middle East. These allegedly include oil smuggling, illicit shipping operations, commodity sales and bulk cash smuggling.
According to OFAC, the network targeted in the latest sanctions action was previously associated with Behnam Shahriyari, a now-deceased financial official linked to the IRGC-Qods Force. The department described the network as an example of the methods allegedly used to channel financial support to Iran-backed groups operating across the region.
The US government has repeatedly sought to restrict Hezbollah’s access to international financial networks through sanctions and other measures. Washington has also targeted individuals and entities accused of facilitating the movement of funds, providing financial services or helping sanctioned organisations circumvent restrictions.
The latest sanctions underscore the Treasury Department’s continued focus on informal financial channels and cash-based networks that can operate outside conventional banking systems. By targeting individuals allegedly involved in the movement of large sums of money, US authorities aim to disrupt the financial infrastructure that they say enables Hezbollah to obtain foreign currency and maintain its operations.
The measures also highlight Washington’s broader efforts to limit financial links between Iran, the IRGC-Qods Force and allied armed groups in the region.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
