The United States imposed sanctions on networks it said support Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah and Lebanese Hezbollah, targeting companies and individuals operating in Iraq, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Thursday.
OFAC said the measures target entities providing financial, logistical, procurement and sanctions-evasion support to the groups, which it characterized as fueling Iran’s destabilizing influence in the Middle East, endangering U.S. and partner forces, and facilitating extensive sanctions evasion schemes.
The agency said the targets underscore the global reach of the Iranian government’s illicit networks and the serious threat posed by the terrorist proxy organizations that operate on its behalf.
Kataib Hezbollah and the PMF
Both Kataib Hezbollah, which operates primarily in Iraq, and Lebanese Hezbollah have been designated terrorist organizations under U.S. law. OFAC described Kataib Hezbollah as the most influential faction within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella organization of paramilitary groups that form part of the Iraqi government’s security apparatus.
OFAC said Kataib Hezbollah benefits from more than $2.6 billion in annual Iraqi government funding allocated to the PMF, and that the group siphons that money to support Tehran, fund terrorist activities and enrich its leadership rather than using it for the Iraqi public’s benefit.
The broader context
These measures are part of a broader U.S. economic campaign, designated Operation Economic Outcast, aimed at disrupting funding networks and proxy operations across the Middle East. Lebanese Hezbollah and Kataib Hezbollah are among the most significant recipients of support from Tehran in the region.
Kataib Hezbollah has been linked to attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria over the past several years, including rocket and drone attacks that have killed and wounded American service members. Lebanese Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, receives significant funding, weapons and training from Tehran and maintains an arsenal that Western and Israeli officials describe as one of the largest non-state weapons stockpiles in the world.
The Iraq-focused sanctions are notable because they target entities within the security apparatus of a country that maintains diplomatic relations with the United States and receives U.S. assistance. The PMF’s dual role as a formal part of the Iraqi government and an entity heavily influenced by Iran has complicated U.S. policy toward Baghdad for years.
The expansion of sanctions to Turkey and the UAE suggests OFAC has traced financial flows through those countries as part of the networks it is now targeting. Both countries have commercial and financial relationships that have been subject to U.S. scrutiny in the context of Iran sanctions enforcement.
