US sanctions targeting corruption span across Lebanese political parties

If we look into the file of US sanctions against the Lebanese, it is clear that Hezbollah tops the list without competition.

However, if we delve into the details of the sanctions and the entities targeted by them, we can see that they were imposed on individuals associated with a number of Lebanese political parties and movements.

The US administration began its series of sanctions in 2007, targeting the leader of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, Assaad Hardan, and former minister Wiam Wahhab, accusing them of working with Syrian officials to influence Lebanese policies.

Hezbollah's long journey with US sanctions began in late 2010, when African companies were accused of supporting the party. Since then, sanctions on individuals associated with the party have continued to this day, with the latest in 2023 targeting financial expert Hassan Moukalled and his sons Ryan and Rani, for facilitating Hezbollah's financial activities.

However, in 2018, sanctions directly targeting the party were imposed with the inclusion of its Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as in 2019 against MP Mohammad Raad, head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, and Wafiq Safa, who was associated with the Coordination and Liaison Committee.

The Amal Movement was not spared from the sanctions either, with the US administration imposing sanctions in 2020 on political aide to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Ali Hassan Khalil, as well as on Yousef Finianos, associated with the Marada Movement, who was then Minister of Public Works and Transport, for their alleged involvement with Hezbollah and corruption.

In a recent development, Raymond and Teddy Rahme were added to the sanctions list on Tuesday. Raymond is close to the leader of the Marada Movement, Sleiman Frangieh, who defended him after his company, ZR Energy, was closely linked to the case of importing contaminated fuel. Meanwhile, Teddy has close ties with the leader of the Lebanese Forces party and is one of the largest donors to the International Cedar Festival, organized by the party.

Even the Free Patriotic Movement and its leader Gebran Bassil have not been immune from the sanctions. In November 2020, Bassil was accused of contributing to the spread of corruption in the country. Less than a year later, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on businessman Danny Khoury, also associated with Bassil, as well as on Jihad al-Arab, the brother of Abed al-Arab, the security officer for ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

It appears that the US sanctions are not related to politics, but to corruption, as they have targeted conflicting and diverse political parties.