UmairAbbasi
The British Ministry of Finance declared the entire Hezbollah Islamic movement to be a terrorist organization and with its assets frozen.
The Ministry of Finance previously considered only the military branch of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia to be a terrorist group. However, the ministry's statement on January 17 considered the entire Hezbollah organization to be a terrorist.
Hezbollah forces marched in Beirut, Lebanon in March 2019 Photo: AFP
With this decision, all individuals and collectives in the UK that have a bank account or use financial services connected to Hezbollah must stop trading or be prosecuted.
"He is committed to maintaining stability in Lebanon and the region, and we continue to work closely with our Lebanese partners," the Ministry of Finance spokesman said.
Founded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in 1982 in the Lebanese civil war, Hezbollah has become an important part of Iran's regional influence strategy.
Hezbollah is one of the largest political parties in Lebanon and a thorn in the eyes of Israel for many years. Hezbollah also participated in the Syrian civil war to support President Bashar al-Assad's government and help protect Iran and Russia interests in the region.
He made a tough move to Hezbollah after the US air strike killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad airport on January 3. This US campaign was backed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
On January 14, Johnson expressed his support for Washington amid the escalating US-Iran tensions, saying that the Iran nuclear deal should be replaced by a "Trump Agreement".
The Comprehensive Joint Action Plan (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, was signed by Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union (EU), China and Russia with Iran in 2015.
Under the deal, Iran agreed to substantially limit its nuclear program in exchange for mitigating economic sanctions. However, after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in May 2018, Iran announced that it did not continue to comply with its commitments and gradually exceeded the uranium enrichment limit.
