By Behold Israel, Aug 30, 2019
United States & Oman place sanctions on individuals believed to be moving mass amounts of money for Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas; Netanyahu: It is an important step meant to put pressure on Iran and its helpers, which are operating against the State of Israel; Mandelker; The US will continue to work with the Central Bank of Lebanon to deny Hezbollah access to the international financial system.
On Thursday, both the United States & Oman instituted new sanctions on individuals within Lebanon that are believed to have involvement in moving mass amounts of money for Iran and their proxies in the Middle East. The motive behind this decision is to warn Iran and their partners in terror that other countries are not ignorant of what they’re up to. Not only are four individuals being targeted with these sanctions, but also what the Americans are calling the “bank of choice” for Hezbollah, Jammal Trust Bank. Hezbollah has been collaborating with this bank since approx. the turn of the century. The White House has labelled this bank as a “global terrorist”.
PM Netanyahu, in a series of tweets praised the Trump Administration, stating, “I commend President Trump and the American Administration for the important decision to impose sanctions on a Lebanese bank that serves as an Iranian financing arm for the Hezbollah terrorist organization. This is an important step designed to put pressure on Iran and its proxies, which are acting against the state of Israel. I also call on other countries to take action against the Iranian aggression in the Middle East.”
Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker enforced the position of the United States in very strong terms stating, “Treasury is targeting Jammal Trust Bank and its subsidiaries for brazenly enabling Hezbollah’s financial activities…Corrupt financial institutions like Jammal Trust are a direct threat to the integrity of the Lebanese financial system. Jammal Trust provides support and services to Hezbollah’s Executive Council and the Martyrs Foundation, which funnels money to the families of suicide bombers.” In an acknowledgement of Iran’s dealings all over the region, Mandelker said, “As the Iranian regime attempts to use complex schemes to hide its efforts to bolster its WMD [weapons of mass destruction] program, the U.S. government will continue to thwart them at every turn.” Additionally, a US Treasury representative claimed that these sanctions, “should be seen as a warning shot that Hezbollah and its Iranian puppet masters should keep their hands off Lebanese financial institutions,”.
These sanctions will carry an economic blow to the targets, as it will forbid Americans from engaging in transactions with them and prohibit them from access to any place that is currently under the control of the United States.
