WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a sweeping counterterrorism action announced Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed nine individuals based in Lebanon on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, citing their roles in obstructing the peace process and blocking the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization.

The designations — made under Executive Order 13224, the primary U.S. counterterrorism sanctions authority — target individuals embedded across Lebanon’s parliament, military, and intelligence apparatus, spanning Hezbollah’s own political wing, its long-standing ally the Amal Movement, and Lebanon’s state security services.

The four sanctioned members of parliament — Fneish, Fadlallah, Al-Moussawi, and Al-Hajj Hassan — represent Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc in the Lebanese legislature. Treasury designated all four for being “owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act on behalf of” Hezbollah — the standard E.O. 13224 criterion for entities tied to a designated terrorist organization.

Fneish, who leads Hezbollah’s Executive Council, has been a member of the group since its founding and carries special significance as the architect of its post-war administrative rebuild. Treasury’s action signals that Washington views his council work as a direct mechanism for preserving Hezbollah’s armed capacity inside Lebanon’s state structures.

Particularly notable is the designation of Mohammad Reza Sheibani, Iran’s would-be ambassador to Beirut. Lebanon’s own Foreign Ministry had already declared him persona non grata, ordering him to leave after citing Iran’s “violation of diplomatic norms” and the envoy’s role in facilitating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) support for Hezbollah’s military operations. Lebanon simultaneously demanded that its security forces take “resolute measures” to curb IRGC activities on Lebanese soil.

The designation of a figure already expelled by the host country underscores how Washington is aligning sanctions pressure with Beirut’s own stated sovereignty interests — a signal that U.S. support for Lebanese independence from Iranian influence remains firm.

The sanctions reach Hezbollah’s oldest and most powerful domestic ally: the Amal Movement, led by parliament speaker Nabih Berri. While Berri himself was not named in Thursday’s designations, two of his senior security commanders were: Amal Security Director Ahmad Asaad Baalbaki and southern militia commander Ali Ahmad Safawi.

Treasury’s filing describes how Baalbaki orchestrated public shows of force alongside Hezbollah to intimidate political opponents, while Safawi led Amal fighters in joint military operations against Israel — conducted under Hezbollah’s operational command. The designations draw an unmistakable line: the security architecture of Amal and Hezbollah, at least in the south, functioned as a single armed entity.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of Thursday’s action is the designation of two serving officers within Lebanon’s own legitimate security forces: Brigadier General Khodr Nasser Al-Din of the General Directorate of General Security and Colonel Samir Hammad of Lebanese Army Intelligence.

Both are accused of passing intelligence to Hezbollah throughout the past year of active hostilities. If accurate, senior officials within the very institutions charged with upholding Lebanese sovereignty were feeding the terrorist group the international community — including Beirut — has demanded be disarmed. It is a betrayal that strikes at the foundation of any Lebanese state capable of governing itself independently of Hezbollah.

The U.S. State Department first designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in October 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under E.O. 13224 in October 2001. Thursday’s action adds nine names to a list Washington has been expanding steadily as Lebanon’s political stalemate over Hezbollah’s weapons drags on.

The ceasefire framework that paused the Israel-Hezbollah conflict included provisions requiring the Lebanese Armed Forces to deploy to the south and Hezbollah to withdraw from the border zone. International monitors and Lebanese officials have acknowledged that full implementation remains incomplete, with Hezbollah retaining covert positions and arms caches throughout the country.

Secretary Bessent’s statement left little ambiguity about the direction of U.S. policy: “Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and must be fully disarmed.” For Beirut’s new government — which has staked its political legitimacy on projecting state authority throughout Lebanon — the U.S. action offers both pressure and, potentially, cover to move more aggressively against Hezbollah’s institutional grip on the country’s security sector.

This article is based on an official press release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, dated May 21, 2026.

Reactions & Commentary

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American Task Force on Lebanon

@ATFLebanon

ATFL welcomes today’s US Treasury Department sanctions targeting networks accused of supporting Hezbollah-linked illicit financial activity and undermining Lebanese state authority. Efforts to curb illicit financing and corruption are essential to restoring confidence in Lebanon’s institutions, rebuilding a functioning economy, and reinforcing the sovereignty of the Lebanese state. These measures should form part of a broader strategy that supports reform, recovery, and long-term stability in Lebanon.

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Elissa el Hachem

@elissa_hachem

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added nine individuals in Lebanon to the sanctions list, due to their role in obstructing the path to peace in Lebanon and hindering efforts to disarm Hezbollah. This includes members of parliament and senior officials in the military and security institutions. The MPs: Muhammad Fneish, Hassan Fadlallah, Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, and Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan. The expelled Iranian ambassador: Mohammad Reza Sheibani. Ahmad Asaad Baalbaki and Ali Ahmad Safawi, senior security officials in the Amal Movement. Brigadier General Khodr Nasser Al-Din, head of the National Security Department in the General Directorate of General Security, and Colonel Samir Hammad, head of the Dahiyeh branch in the Directorate of Intelligence in the Lebanese Army, for sharing important intelligence information with Hezbollah throughout the past year. Nabih Berri, they got too close to you.

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