Iran hits back at US call to cut Hezbollah funding
The Islamic Republic’s embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday fired back at remarks made by a top US sanctions official who urged Beirut to cut Tehran's funding to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
The Islamic Republic’s embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday fired back at remarks made by a top US sanctions official who urged Beirut to cut Tehran's funding to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
“There’s a moment in Lebanon now. If we could get Hezbollah to disarm, the Lebanese people could get their country back,” said John Hurley, the US Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in an interview with Reuters.
"The key to that is to drive out the Iranian influence," Hurley said, "and control that starts with all the money that they are pumping into Hezbollah."
Iran, according to Hurley, has delivered about 1 billion dollars to Hezbollah so far this year despite heavy Western sanctions.
His comments came during a regional tour through Turkey, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates aimed at raising pressure on Tehran.
The Iranian embassy in Beirut dismissed the statements as “baseless and misleading” in a post on X Tuesday. “In recent days, American nonsense about Iran and its presence in Lebanon and the region has increased."
“It would have been better if American officials, instead of wasting time and being preoccupied with empty words, fulfilled the promises they made years ago to the people of Lebanon," it added, "even if only by helping to find a solution to the electricity crisis.”
“Rather than demonizing Iran and making unfounded accusations, the United States should have curbed the evil of the Israeli regime and its savage, ongoing aggression against Lebanon and its oppressed people,” the statement added.
Hurley’s comments mark Washington’s latest bid to choke off Tehran’s regional influence by targeting Hezbollah’s finances.
The strategy has intensified since Israel’s clash with the group escalated late last year with assassinations of senior and mid-ranking officials and an air and ground campaign which killed over 4,000 people.
Citing people familiar with Israeli and Arab intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported last month that Hezbollah was rebuilding its weapons and ranks in defiance of a a ceasefire deal.
Israel meanwhile continues to maintain a military presence in outposts on Lebanese territory and has repeatedly carried out deadly airstrikes it says target militants.
