Lebanon asked to end 'malign influence of Iran through Hezbollah'

BEIRUT:

A US official visiting Lebanon called on its authorities on Monday to end "the malign influence of Iran through Hezbollah", adding that his country was determined to cut off Tehran's funding of the Islamist group.

Washington is pushing to cut off Hezbollah's funding sources while also pressing the Lebanese government to disarm the group. Hezbollah was weakened in its most recent war with Israel, which was halted by a November 2024 ceasefire.

"We think the key for the Lebanese people getting their country back is ending the malign influence of Iran through Hezbollah in Lebanon," said deputy director for counter-terrorism John Hurley.

The US "administration is very serious about cutting off Iran's funding" to Hezbollah, he told three journalists, including one from AFP, at the US embassy.

"If we could remove the malign influence of Iran from Lebanon, reassure Israel that Lebanon is not a threat to Israel, I think... the region would be better off," he said.

Hurley is part of a delegation led by Sebastian Gorka, Washington's counterterrorism director, which has been meeting Lebanese officials since Sunday.

"We were very frank with the president, the prime minister and the other senior officials that there's a window right now, particularly the window between now and the election" scheduled for May 2026, Hurley said.

According to the US Treasury, Iran has transferred more than a billion dollars to the group since January.

- Cash, gold, crypto -

One particular route has been money laundering via cash-bashed money exchanges.

Speaking of the funding, Hurley said "a lot of it's cash, a lot of it's gold, some of it's crypto".

He said he had visited the United Arab Emirates and Turkey to discuss "strategies we can pursue together to try to choke that off".

"Certainly historically, we've seen significant flows from those two countries that come here from the IRGC (Iran's Revolutionary Guards), ultimately destined for Hezbollah," he added.

On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on three members of Hezbollah who it said had facilitated the transfer of funds from Iran, via money exchanges, which the group was using to rebuild its military capability.

Hurley acknowledged that Lebanese authorities have had "some success in stopping cash at the airport, stopping gold at the airport" in Beirut.

"We'd love to see that extend to the ports. We'd love to see that extend to all the borders," he added.

A Lebanese official who requested anonymity to speak freely, told AFP that the US delegation delivered a "clear and firm" message on the need to actively fight against Hezbollah's funding sources.

"They want real action before the end of the year," the official said.