The United States announced new sanctions against Hezbollah on Thursday, including a formal redesignation of the Lebanese group over what Washington said was its role in supporting Iran's government.
According to a Treasury Department statement quoted by Reuters, Hezbollah was redesignated "for service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force."
A US official, speaking anonymously, said the move was intended to emphasize Washington's assessment that Hezbollah operates on behalf of the Iranian government, specifically the IRGC's Quds Force.
Hezbollah has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 2001.
The terror organization functions as both a political party and an armed group in Lebanon. US sanctions are intended to disrupt its financial networks by freezing assets, restricting banking activity and blocking the provision of goods, services and other material support.
The US official said Thursday's action was separate from the broader measures Washington has threatened against Iran.
President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that countries providing "any type of lifeline to Iran" could face economic consequences. That warning came as Trump announced an “economic D-Day" against the Islamic Republic.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that he would hold a news conference Monday regarding what he described as "the toughest sanctions in history" that Washington plans to impose on Iran.
Bessent last week told Newsmax that Washington is preparing to execute economic actions against Tehran on a scale never previously attempted.
"It will be a combination of economic isolation like the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports," he said at the time.
The latest Hezbollah sanctions also targeted 10 individuals accused by the Treasury Department of helping move cash for the organization.
Among those sanctioned was a Turkish businessman whom Washington accused of overseeing a network of couriers transporting funds between countries in the region and Hezbollah's base in Lebanon.
According to the Treasury statement, the businessman used exchange houses in Turkey as fronts and supplied front companies and bank accounts used for transfers linked to Iran's Quds Force.
Several couriers involved in the alleged financial network were also sanctioned.