United States Designates Hizballah Affiliated Companies and Officials as Global Terrorists

02/26/2020 05:51 PM EST

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State

Today, the United States designated 15 Lebanon-based individuals and entities linked to the Martyrs Foundation, part of Hizballah's financial support network, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) pursuant to Executive Order 13224.  These designations demonstrate once again how Hizballah uses its expansive and shadowy network of companies to pursue its own malign interests and those of its primary benefactor, Iran, at the expense of the Lebanese people.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Atlas Holding and 10 of its subsidiaries for being owned or controlled by the Martyrs Foundation, an integral element of the terrorist group's global support network designated in 2007.  Treasury further designated Atlas Holding's senior executive Kassem Mohamad Ali Bazzi, two leaders or officials of the Martyrs Foundation, Jawad Nur-al-Din and Sheikh Yusuf Aasi, and an affiliated company.

Today's designation will continue the U.S. effort to disrupt Hizballah's financial facilitation networks and expose its manipulation of the Lebanese political and economic arenas to bolster its influence.