WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action to disrupt two key mechanisms Hizballah uses to sustain its economic stability: revenue generation in coordination with the Iranian regime and exploitation of Lebanon’s informal financial sector. OFAC today sanctioned gold exchange company Jood SARL, which operates under the supervision of Hizballah’s U.S.-designated Al-Qard Al-Hassan (AQAH), and converts Hizballah’s gold reserves into usable funds that sustain the terrorist group’s reconstitution. OFAC also sanctioned an international procurement and commodities shipping scheme orchestrated by Hizballah financiers operating from all over the region, including in Iran.
“Hizballah is a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Treasury will work to cut these terrorists off from the global financial system to give Lebanon a chance to be peaceful and prosperous again.”
Hizballah continues to use AQAH to facilitate its destabilizing militant activities, undermining the Lebanese people’s ability to rebuild while enabling the group’s own interests. AQAH masquerades as a non-governmental organization (NGO) under the cover of a Ministry of Interior-granted NGO license, but provides financial services similar to a bank, far beyond activities disclosed in its original registration documents.
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. The U.S. Department of State designated Hizballah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 13224 on October 31, 2001, and as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act on October 8, 1997.
AL-QARD AL-HASSAN GOLD EXCHANGE
After facing challenges throughout early 2025 to secure funding, Hizballah directed AQAH masquerades as a non-governmental organization (NGO) under the cover of a Ministry of Interior-granted NGO license, but provides financial services similar to a bank and far beyond anything disclosed in its original registration documents. Al-Qard Al-Hassan to ensure the terrorist group’s continued access to cash flow. Senior Al-Qard Al-Hassan officials established a chain of companies to trade gold in Lebanon and potentially overseas. Hizballah officials pushed for Al-Qard Al-Hassan to establish these companies quickly to mitigate the liquidity pressures on the company throughout 2025.
To evade sanctions, Al-Qard Al-Hassan officials established Lebanese government-licensed Jood SARL (Jood), overseen by U.S.-designated Samer Hasan Fawaz. Al-Qard Al-Hassan has opened or plans to open Jood branches in predominantly Shiite areas, including Beirut, the Bek’a valley, and Nabatiyeh. Al-Qard Al-Hassan supervises the activities of Jood, and most Jood branches are located in or near existing Al-Qard Al-Hassan branches. Senior AQAH officials Mohamed Nayef Maged and U.S.-designated Ali Karnib are co-owners and managing partners of Jood, and they operate the company on behalf of Al-Qard Al-Hassan. The establishment of Jood is the latest in a series of schemes Al-Qard Al-Hassan has used to obfuscate its financial activities.
Jood is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Hizballah. Mohamed Nayef Maged is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, AQAH.
ALI QASIR’s REVENUE-GENERATING ASSOCIATES
U.S.-designated Iran-based Hizballah finance team member Ali Qasir regularly coordinates with a cohort of associates across several jurisdictions to evade sanctions and raise money for Hizballah. As of mid-2025, Moscow-based Russian national Andrey Viktorovich Borisov (Borisov), an employee of U.S.-designated Hizballah-affiliated company Mira Ihracat Ithalat Petrol (Mira), worked directly with Ali Qasir on projects including procuring weapons from Russia and selling commodities to generate revenue. Since at least 2021, Borisov has worked directly with U.S.-designated Hizballah finance team associates Ibrahim Talal al-Uwayr (al-Uwayr) and Muhammad Amir Alchwiki on facilitating matters related to Mira’s business deals involving Russia.
In late 2025, the Hizballah finance team, including Ali Qasir, al-Uwayr, and the director of U.S.- designated Hizballah front company Hokoul SAL Offshore, Samer Kasbar, in consultation with U.S-designated Syrian businessman Yaser Husayn Ibrahim, used Turkiye-based Platinum Group International Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi to facilitate the export of millions of dollars’ worth of fertilizer from Iran to Turkiye by falsely claiming the cargo originated in Oman. Turkiye-based Sea Surf Shipping Limited, the owner of the Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged cargo vessel LARA, was also used to facilitate this transaction, and the Iranian fertilizer cargo was loaded onto the Panama-flagged BRILLIANCE. The BRILLIANCE, owned by Panama-based Brilliance Maritime Ventures S.A., was part of the fleet managed by U.S.-designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and Hizballah-affiliated Syrian businessman Abdul Jalil Mallah.
Borisov, Platinum Group International Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Sea Surf Shipping Limited, and Brilliance Maritime Ventures S.A. are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the Hizballah.
BRILLIANCE is being identified pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, as blocked property in the interest of Brilliance Maritime Ventures S.A.
LARA is being identified pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, as blocked property in the interest of Sea Surf Shipping Limited.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.
Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions. OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.
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