Lawmakers from the Hezbollah terrorist group on Thursday condemned US sanctions against three officials from the movement, but said they would "change nothing" regarding the group's rejection of US policies in the region, AFP reports.
The US Treasury on Tuesday placed two Hezbollah members of Lebanon's parliament on its sanctions blacklist, marking the first time Washington has taken aim at the Iran-allied group's elected politicians.
The parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah said in response the US decision was "unacceptable" and "reprehensible by all sovereign and moral standards", according to a statement released after its weekly meeting.
The lawmakers stressed that the sanctions would "change nothing in our convictions or in our rejection of and resistance to Israel occupation and terrorism, or towards American policies."
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is expected to address the US sanctions in an interview Friday with the movement's Al-Manar TV.
Hezbollah and its allies gained more than half the seats of the 128-member Lebanese parliament in the election which took place in May of 2018.
In the newly formed Lebanese cabinet, which was announced earlier this year, Hezbollah has named a health minister and two other posts. US officials have called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s new government to ensure the group does not receive support from public resources.
The United States has in the past imposed several rounds of sanctions on Hezbollah and officials affiliated with the terror group.
Last October, President Donald Trump signed new sanctions targeting Hezbollah.
A week earlier, five groups, including Hezbollah, were designated as transnational criminal organizations to target with tougher investigations and prosecutions.
Before that, the Treasury sanctioned one of the financiers of Hezbollah and its representative to Iran, as well as five entities based in Europe.