The US Treasury amended Hezbollah's designation to note it operates "in service to the Iranian regime under the command" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It also sanctioned 10 people allegedly part of a network moving cash to the group using couriers on commercial flights between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE and Iran, moving "up to hundreds of millions of dollars" to evade sanctions.

Hezbollah rejected the move, insisting it "does not need anyone to vouch for its Lebanese identity," and said it cherishes its "close and fraternal relationship" with Iran. The group said the sanctions aim "to target the resistance... to besiege and pressure them" to protect Israel. Washington first designated Hezbollah a "foreign terrorist organisation" in 1997, and updated it to a "specially designated global terrorist" group in 2001. A senior State Department official said the US had documented Hezbollah's "operational, financial, and logistical integration" with the Quds Force, calling the group merely "an extension" of that unit, "not a Lebanese resistance movement." The move comes as the US facilitates direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, technically at war for decades. Hostilities erupted when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Iran, drawing Lebanon into the broader conflict. Israel responded with an air campaign and ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say killed over 4,300 people. In June, the two sides signed a framework agreement calling for Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, and deployment of the Lebanese army to the region. (Bssnews