WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday said a Lebanese construction company was directly funded by Iran and run by Hezbollah members.
The department said Jihad al-Bina was overseen by Hezbollah's Shura Council, headed by the group's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. As such, Treasury banned all U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with Jihad al-Bina and the United States will freeze any assets it has under U.S. jurisdiction.
Hezbollah "operates Jihad al-Bina for its own construction needs as well as to attract popular support through the provision of civilian construction services," said Stuart Levey, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "We will take action against all facets of this deadly terror group."
Treasury said that Jihad al-Bina used "deceptive means to seek funding for projects from international development organizations," adding that Hezbollah used the company to "raise funds for the terrorist organization and to bolster the group's standing by providing construction services in southern Lebanon."
