Lebanon's Hezbollah slams US sanctions on its officials
dpa
BEIRUT (dpa)- Lebanon's Iran-allied Hezbollah movement on Thursday condemned US sanctions on three of its officials, calling the move an "aggression against Lebanon."
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday added Hezbollah parliamentarian Amin Sherri and the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Hassan Raad, as well as the movement's security official Wafiq Safa, to its blacklist of designated individuals and entities.
"This decision is a continuation of an aggression against Lebanon, its people and its choices," the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc said in a statement.
"This matter is unacceptable and deplorable by all sovereign and ethical standards," the statement reads.
The group's reaction comes a day after Lebanon's leaders criticized the US sanctions.
Hezbollah, which is backed and financed by Iran, was designated by the US State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
US officials said the three sanctioned individuals used their positions to "facilitate Hezbollah's malign agenda and do Iran's bidding."
Hezbollah "uses its operatives in Lebanon's parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group's financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran's malign activities," said Sigal Mandelker, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
They have been added to a list of 50 individuals and entities affiliated with Hezbollah that have been sanctioned since 2017, according to the US Treasury Department.
In 2006, Hezbollah fought a devastating war against Israel.
The movement has also sent fighters into neighbouring Syria, supporting government forces there in crushing an armed rebellion that erupted in 2011.
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"This matter is unacceptable and deplorable by all sovereign and ethical standards," the statement reads.
The group's reaction comes a day after Lebanon's leaders criticized the US sanctions.
Hezbollah, which is backed and financed by Iran, was designated by the US State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
US officials said the three sanctioned individuals used their positions to "facilitate Hezbollah's malign agenda and do Iran's bidding."
Hezbollah "uses its operatives in Lebanon's parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group's financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran's malign activities," said Sigal Mandelker, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
They have been added to a list of 50 individuals and entities affiliated with Hezbollah that have been sanctioned since 2017, according to the US Treasury Department.
In 2006, Hezbollah fought a devastating war against Israel.
The movement has also sent fighters into neighbouring Syria, supporting government forces there in crushing an armed rebellion that erupted in 2011.
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