US sanctions on Hezbollah: Iran’s arm falls in “Trump’s hell”

Ali Ragab

The United States continued to impose sanctions on companies linked to the Lebanese group “Hezbollah”, which Washington regards as the regional arm of the Iranian regime and a threat to the security and stability of the region.

This coincided with the delay in formation of the Lebanese government. The US administration threatened to stop any aid to any ministry that have a member of Hezbollah in the government of Saad Hariri, which still to be formed.

Target Entities

On October 4, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Lebanese businessman Mohammed Abdullah Al Amin and seven Lebanese companies providing material and logistical support to Hezbollah. Al-Amin provides funding  to Hezbollah through Adham Hussein Tabbaja, a Hezbollah leader.

Companies that are under sanctions and belongs to Al-Amin are «LEBANON-BASED COMPANIES SIERRA GAS S.A.L. OFFSHORE- LAMA FOODS S.A.R.L- LAMA FOODS INTERNATIONAL OFFSHORE S.A.L-IMPULSE S.A.R.L – IMPULSE INTERNATIONAL S.A.L. OFFSHORE – M. MARINE S.A.L. OFFSHORE- THAINGUI S.A.L. OFFSHORE».
The seven companies operate in the fields of “natural gas, import and export of foodstuffs, transport of goods, maritime transport and advertising”. These companies are active in Lebanon, the Middle East and Africa.

According to the US Treasury Department, al-Amin was the link between Tabbaja and banking officials in Lebanon and abroad and helped in finding a way around the impact of the sanctions imposed by the US administration on the Tabbaja in June 2015.

Al-Ameen also collaborated with Mohammed Falah Clas, who was put by Washington on October 20, 2016 on the sanctions list, because he provided financial services and support to the Tabbaja network through his work at el-Inmaa Engineering and Contracting Company, according to the Treasury Department website.

In February 2018, the US administration imposed sanctions on six individuals and seven companies linked to Iran and Hezbollah, five Lebanese and an Iraqi, linked to Adham Hussein Tabaja’s Enmaa Engineering and Contracting Company and the seven companies that were sanctioned in February are based in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Lebanon and Ghana.

The US Treasury Department consider Hezbollah as the Iranian agent in the Middle East, and its administration focuses on supporting and spreading terrorism, and its activities is a threat to the stability of the region, especially Lebanon.

Sigal P. Mandelker, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, U.S. Department of the Treasury Or other support networks for Hezbollah has said that US will impose sanctions on any person involved in trade relations with Al-Amin or other funding network for Hezbollah.

Lebanese writer Jerry Maher said that the imposition of sanctions on al-Amin and 7 Lebanese companies, confirms the US orientation to counter the terrorism of «

Hezbollah.

Maher tweeted that Lebanon today is completely under Hezbollah’s control because of the policies of Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.

He added that the imposition of sanctions does not have a strong impact on Hezbollah funding; as Hezbollah has other “illegal” sources of funding, such as smuggling and the drug trade.
Mohamed Hamed, an expert on international relations, said that seeking to eliminate the sources of funding for Hezbollah, Iran’s arm in the region, is the beginning of the Hezbollah’s stalemate.

Hamed also said that the United States is monitoring all activities of Hezbollah and its institutions and sources of official and non-official funding.

He pointed out that the US sanctions will have an indirect impact on the Lebanese economy, adding that Washington is monitoring the institutions of the Lebanese government and any violation of these sanctions will negatively affect the Lebanese governmental institutions.