Treasury targets 2 Lebanese lawmakers, Hezbollah official

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on a Hezbollah security official and two members of Lebanon’s parliament who are suspected of using their positions to further the aims of the Iran-backed military group and “bolster Iran’s malign activities.”

The United States identifies lawmakers as Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra’d, and the Hezbollah official as Wafiq Safa.

The Treasury Department claims that last year Sherri threatened violence against the officials of a Lebanese bank and their families after the bank froze the accounts of a U.S.-sanctioned Hezbollah financier.

The department says the new penalties make clear there is no distinction between Hezbollah’s political and militant activities.