The United States has sanctioned financial operatives accused of funneling tens of millions of dollars from Iran to Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group.
The U.S. said the individuals collaborated with businessmen to allow significant financial transfers from Iran and “conduct covert business dealings that fund Hezbollah’s terrorist activities.”
“The United States is committed to supporting Lebanon by exposing and disrupting Iran’s covert financing of Hezbollah,” the State Department noted in a release on Thursday.
The government maintains that the Islamic Republic holds Lebanon back and undermines its sovereignty by enabling Hezbollah, describing the situation as captivity.
The U.S. has vowed to continue using every tool at its disposal “to ensure this terrorist group no longer poses a threat to the Lebanese people or the broader region.”
The action supports President Donald Trump’s policy of maximum pressure against Iran and its proxies as laid out in the National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 issued in February.
Similarly, the U.S. has designated two entities and eight people for aiding North Korea’s schemes to launder funds, including those derived from cybercrime and information technology worker fraud.
The sanction hits Ryujong Credit Bank, a North Korea-based financial institution that provided financial assistance to sanction-evasion activities between China and the DPRK.
The other is Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company—a North Korea-based company that operates IT workers in China—and its president, U Yong Su.
Also named are Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Chong Son, North Korean bankers accused of managing funds fleeced from Americans, on behalf of the previously designated First Credit Bank.
Others sanctioned are Ho Yong Chol, Han Hong Gil, Jong Sung Hyok, Choe Chun Pom, and Ri Jin Hyok, who helped the DPRK to process financial transactions in violation of UN sanctions.
The U.S. said the DPRK’s “malicious cyber activities and generation of revenue to fund its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs” threaten Americans, international security, and the global digital economy.
