Lebanon

Nasrallah Says US Sanctions Have No Impact on Hezbollah

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Nasrallah Says US Sanctions Have No Impact on Hezbollah

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah deplored a US sanctions law seeking to tighten the noose on the party’s finances, saying that the law would not have any financial impact on the movement.

He said Hezbollah entirely rejected the US sanctions, calling them an attack on the country’s sovereignty.

“We totally reject this [US] law until the Day of Judgment. … Even if the law is applied, we as a party and an organizational and jihadi movement, will not be hurt or affected,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Friday marking the passing of 40 days since the martyrdom of Hezbollah’s top commander Mustafa Badreddine in Syria.

“The law will not have any financial impact on Hezbollah. I have said before that we do not have commercial or investment projects and commercial institutions that operate through banks,” he said, addressing a Hezbollah memorial ceremony for Badreddine at a complex south of Beirut via video link.

Although Iranian support for his group has for long been a well-known fact, Nasrallah pointed out that Hezbollah is receiving its money and arms from Iran. “As long as Iran has money, Hezbollah has money. … Can we be any more frank than that?” he said.

“Hezbollah’s budget and its expenses are coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran. … Our allocated money is coming to us in the same way we receive our rockets with which we threaten Israel,” Nasrallah said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “No bank in the world can prevent money reaching us.”

He thanked leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s president and its government for their “generous support” for Hezbollah during the years of resistance against Israeli occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000, the Daily Star reported.

However, Nasrallah warned against Lebanese banks targeting Hezbollah’s supporters.

“Some banks in Lebanon went too far and they became more American than the Americans themselves. They even did something that the Americans did not ask for. They targeted people and charitable foundations that were not mentioned in the US list,” Nasrallah said, in reference to a sanctions list designated by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

“There are some banks, that if a person is related to a Hezbollah member, they will close their accounts. This is an attack on charitable foundations and our people and we reject this attack, and we will not allow it. Whoever says they care about the financial sector, they shouldn’t target a third of the population,” he added.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah has started a dialogue with Lebanese officials on the basis of rejecting the US law. “We are open to any dialogue to solve this [US sanctions] file,” he said.

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