UK imposes sanctions on Hezballah

Legal Insurrection:

The United Kingdom has joined the United States in banning the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in its entirety. The decision taken by the UK Treasury on Friday will lead to the freezing of all assets belonging to the Lebanon-based terrorist organization. The “failure to comply with financial sanctions legislation” or seeking to “circumvent its provisions” will be regarded as criminal offences, the UK Treasury said in a statement.

Friday’s announcement puts a blanket ban on Hezbollah. Previously, the terrorist organization was allowed to operate and hold assets in the UK under the guise of its “political wing.” In its latest statement, the British government refused to make a distinction between the military and political arms of the Shi’a terrorist group, an argument often made by the European Union for not banning Hezbollah activities in the continent.

“Hizballah itself has publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings,” the UK Treasury said. “The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism and was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in March 2019. This listing includes the Military Wing, the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organisation.” [View the UK Treasury’s full communique in PDF version here]
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When Obama was cutting his bad nuclear deal with Iran he stopped a prosecution of Hezballah which finances its operations with drug sales.  It is just another example of how absurd that deal was.  It is good that the UK is putting more pressure on Iran's proxy terror forces.