Hezbollah supporters hold a Hezbollah flag
Hezbollah supporters hold a Hezbollah flagReuters

The United States Treasury on Thursday added two Lebanese men it said laundered money for Hezbollah to its sanctions blacklist, AFP reported.

The two are Mohamad Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine, who the Treasury said worked through Noureddine's Beirut company Trade Point International to move money for Hezbollah-linked businesses and individuals already on American blacklists.

"Noureddine has utilized an extensive network across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East to provide money laundering, bulk cash shipment, black market currency exchange, and other financial services to a variety of clients, including Hezbollah members," the Treasury said in a statement.

Hamdi Zaher El Dine was an employee of Trade Point, according to AFP.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group and political party, is officially labeled a terrorist group by the United States.

Thursday’s move is not the first time that the United States has moved to sanction Hezbollah. Earlier this month, it blacklisted Ali Youssef Charara and his Beirut-based telecommunications company Spectrum Investment Group Holding, saying they.

Washington has in the past imposed sanctions on the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and two other members of the organization, for their alleged role in aiding the Syrian government in its crackdown on opposition forces.

Sanctions seek to lock individuals and companies out of the global financial system by banning Americans and any American institutions from doing business with those on the blacklist.

However, it has also been revealed in the past that the U.S. government was providing indirect aid to Hezbollah in its fight against Sunni rivals including the Islamic State (ISIS), as part of a wider strategic shift to cozy up to the terrorist group, which also includes intelligence-sharing.