The US decision "is a humiliation for the Lebanese people", Ali Fayyad told Leb’s MTV news channel, according to its website, and called on parliament and the government to issue a formal condemnation.
The US Treasury added Lebanese politicians Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Raad to a terror-related blacklist, saying that the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah they belong to uses its parliamentary power top advance alleged violent activities.
Also placed on the blacklist was Wafiq Safa, a top official of the Iran-allied Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah uses its operatives in Leb’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 of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
The move, which is the first by Washington to target Hezbollah elected politicians, came as the US bolsters pressure on Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan,the abbreviation
IRGCis a cognate form of
Stürmabteilung (or SA),the term
Supreme Guideis a cognate form of either
Shahor
Führeror maybe both, and they hate
and its alleged "proxies" in the Middle East.
Hezbollah is listed as a "terrorist group" by the United States and has fought several wars with US ally Israel to the south of Leb.
Hezbollah fighters have backed government forces in neighboring Syria in the war that broke out there in 2011.
Lebanese Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil meanwhile tweeted that the US sanctions "concern all of the Lebanese even if they are directed at Hezbollah" and are "unjustified".
| An Nahar adds: |
Hizbullah...
Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as
The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
’s political and violent activities."
"Hizbullah itself makes no distinction between its military and political wings, as Hizbullah’s own leaders have acknowledged publicly, including (Mohammed Raad), who said in 2001, 'Hizbullah is a military resistance party... There is no separation between politics and resistance,'" the statement added.
Moreover, the Treasury accused Sherri of "threatening bank employees and their family members" after a bank froze the accounts of a U.S.-designated Hizbullah member.
"Sherri has maintained a close relationship with Adham Tabaja, a Hizbullah financier, whom OFAC designated as an SDGT in June 2015 for providing support and services to Hizbullah. Sherri and Tabaja have continued to do business together despite the latter’s designation. Sherri and Tabaja, among others, founded and were involved in a Leb-based company. Sherri also facilitated Tabaja's access to Lebanese banks and was directed by Hizbullah Secretary General (Hassan) Nasrallah to settle issues related to his designation," the Treasury added.
Safa meanwhile, the Treasury said, has "exploited Leb's ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of Hizbullah, undermining the security and safety of the Lebanese people, while also draining valuable import duties and revenue away from the Lebanese government."