F.P. Report
WASHINGTON DC: The United States has designated Lebanon- and Kuwait-based members of a financial network that funds Hizballah, as well as members of an international network of financial facilitat-ors and front companies th-at operate in support of Hi-zballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Cor-ps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
Together, these networks have laundered tens of millions of dollars through regional financial systems and conducted currency exchange operations and trade in gold and electronics for the benefit of both Hizballah and the IRGC-QF. This action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority within Executive Order 13224, as amended.
Hizballah uses revenues generated by these networks to fund terrorist activities and to perpetuate instability in Lebanon and throughout the region. The United States will not relent in targeting these networks, and we will continue to take actions to disrupt their activities.
We call on governments around the world to take steps to ensure Hizballah and other terrorist groups do not exploit their territory and financial institutions.
Also, in the midst of ongoing violence, abuses against civilians, and growing humanitarian plight in Ethiopia, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) establishing a new s-anctions regime in response to the crisis. With it, the United States will be able to impose financial sanctions on individuals and entities in connection with the conflict, including those responsible for threatening peace and stability, obstru-cting humanitarian access or progress toward a ceasefire, or committing serious human rights abuses. Des-ignated individuals are also subject to visa restrictions.
This conflict has sparked one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with more than five million people requiring assistance, of which over 900,000 are living in famine conditions. T-his new tool underscores o-ur resolve to use every ap-propriate tool at our disposal to bring relief to the lo-ng-suffering people of the region. For too long, the Government of Ethiopia, the Government of Eritrea, the Amhara regional government, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have failed to stop fighting and invest in diplomacy required to solve the ongoing crisis. Instead, violence has escalated and spread, and human rights abuses and obstruction of humanitarian access continue.
The Administration, in concert with our international partners, including in the region, has employed a range of diplomatic tools. Most recently, US designated Eritrean Defense Forces Chief of Staff General Wo-ldeyohannes under the Gl-obal Magnitsky sanctions authority in connection wi-th serious human r-ights ab-uses committed by EDF in Ethiopia. In May, we also announced a visa restriction policy on the issuance of visas for individuals resp-onsible for, or complicit in, undermining the resolution of the crisis in Tigray.
