Funding of Hezbollah

As at October 2019, Hezbollah is subject to sanctions from a number of countries and international organisations that seek to stop funding to designated terrorist organisations, that includes Hezbollah. Banks, including Lebanese banks, are required to comply with these sanctions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/report-hezbollah-seeks-to-attack-and-storm-banks-in-lebanon-604845|title=Hezbollah seeks 'to attack and storm banks' in Lebanon - report|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|date=17 October 2019 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-economy-sanctions-idUSKCN1VX2E1|title=New sanctions could extend to allies of Hezbollah in Lebanon: U.S. envoy|newspaper=Reuters|date=September 12, 2019|via=www.reuters.com}} Banks that deal with parties that provide funds for Hezbollah (or other terrorist organisation) are liable to be barred from dealing in dollars, besides other sanctions.

The countries that ban transfers of funds to Hezbollah include: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (partly), and the United States. Germany and the European Union outlawed only Hezbollah's military wing, and work with Hezbollah's political wing and allow it to raise funds in Europe.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/german-groups-classify-hezbollah-as-a-terrorist-organization-606137|title=German youth: Classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|date=29 October 2019 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/international/free-democratic-party-urges-merkel-to-place-full-ban-on-hezbollah-607361|title=Free Democratic Party urges Merkel to place full ban on Hezbollah|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|date=9 November 2019 }}

The United States has accused members of the Venezuelan government of providing financial aid to Hezbollah.{{cite web|title=Treasury Targets Hizballah in Venezuela|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/hp1036.aspx|work=Press Release|publisher=United States Department of Treasury|access-date=5 March 2014}} According to the testimony of a former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger Noriega, Hugo Chávez's government gave "indispensable support" to Iran and Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere.{{cite web |last1=Noriega |first1=Roger F. |title=Hezbollah in Latin America: Implications for U.S. Homeland Security |url=http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf |publisher=The House Committee on Homeland Security |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920031700/http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2014 }} In an article by the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, Noriega explained how two witnesses alleged that Ghazi Atef Nassereddine, a Venezuelan diplomat in Syria, was an operative of Hezbollah who used Venezuelan entities to launder money for Hezbollah with President Nicolás Maduro's personal approval.{{cite web|last1=Noriega|first1=Roger F.|title=Hezbollah in the streets of Caracas?|url=http://www.aei-ideas.org/2014/02/hezbollah-in-the-streets-of-caracas/|website=AEIdeas|publisher=American Enterprise Institute|access-date=6 August 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006145829/http://www.aei-ideas.org/2014/02/hezbollah-in-the-streets-of-caracas/|url-status=dead}}

In January 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Hezbollah-affiliated financial facilitator Adnan Ayad, as well as members of an international network of facilitators and companies connected to him and to Adel Diab - Dyad's business partner. Dyad - a fellow Hezbollah financier who was also added by the OFAC to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.{{Cite web|title=Treasury Sanctions International Hizballah Network|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0564|access-date=2022-01-21|website=U.S. Department of the Treasury|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Treasury Sanctions Hizballah Financiers in Lebanon|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0558|access-date=2022-01-21|website=U.S. Department of the Treasury|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Counter Terrorism Designations|url=https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20220118|access-date=2022-01-21|website=U.S. Department of the Treasury|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Counter Terrorism Designations|url=https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20220121|access-date=2022-01-21|website=U.S. Department of the Treasury|language=en}}

File:Hizballah areas of operation and finance map.tiff

Hezbollah has been accused of engaging in various illegal activities for the purpose of securing funds for its own activities. For example, Matthew Levitt told a committee of the US Senate that Hezbollah engages in a "wide variety of criminal enterprises" worldwide in order to raise funds.Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate [https://web.archive.org/web/20050525135017/http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/LevittTestimony.pdf Testimony of Dr. Matthew Levitt] Accessed August 8, 2006 (archived from [http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/LevittTestimony.pdf the original] on 2005-05-25) The U.S. Treasury Department has accused Hezbollah of raising funds by counterfeiting U.S. currency.US Treasury Department, June 10, 2004 [http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js1720.htm Treasury Designates Islamic Extremist, Two Companies Supporting Hizballah in Tri-Border Area] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214143134/http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js1720.htm |date=2007-02-14 }} Accessed 2006-07-26 In 2008, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration launched Project Cassandra to track and undercut fundraising via illicit drugs.

Hezbollah has categorically denied all allegations of drug trafficking, illegal banking and money laundering. In a statement in 2011, the party said "The United States' allegations that Hezbollah is funding its activities illegitimately is merely another attempt to tarnish the image of the resistance in Lebanon ... after the failure and exposure of U.S. intelligence operations in our country".{{cite news|title=Hezbollah denies drugs and money laundering claims|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/22/184043.html|access-date=17 July 2014|agency=Al Arabiya|date=22 December 2011}}

In a 2012 speech, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said "Time and again they speak about the drug networks in Latin America and Europe and they say Hezbollah is financing these activities. This is forbidden for us."{{cite news|title=Nasrallah calls for unconditional dialogue in Syria|url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/4008|access-date=17 July 2014|agency=Al Ahkbar|date=7 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726005023/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/4008|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead}} Al-Akhbar Newspaper argued that there is no evidence supporting the claim of Hezbollah's drug trafficking because no court have been provided evidence for that claim.{{Cite web|url=https://al-akhbar.com/Politics/280346|title=الحَراك والشفافيّة|website=الأخبار}}

In the Golden Triangle region of South-East Asia, Hezbollah generates funding with the heroin trade and reportedly the smuggling of rare or precious items or materials.{{cite book|title=Organized crime: from trafficking to terrorism, Volume 2|last1=Shanty|first1=Frank|last2=Mishra|first2=Patit Paban|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-337-7|page=58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iuYOenOg7yoC&pg=PA58}} Mohammed Raad, at one time leader of Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, said money from Iran came only through private charities to be used for health care, education and the support of war widows. Hezbollah's main sources of income, he said, are the party's investment portfolios and wealthy Shiites.

In July 2014, The Daily Beast reported that Hezbollah owns marijuana plantations and produces Hashish in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, and exports the produce to countries such as Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Prior to the Syrian civil war, the Lebanese Army patrolled the fields, though the Lebanese government has since adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards illegal drug production.{{cite journal|last1=Mucci|first1=Alberto|title=Hezbollah Profits From Hash as Syria Goes to Pot|journal=The Daily Beast|date=9 July 2014 |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/09/hezbollah-profits-from-hash-as-syria-goes-to-pot.html|access-date=11 July 2014}} According to Arab media reports, Hezbollah has a number of Lebanese front companies that deal in counterfeit medicine.{{cite web | url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hezbollah-maintains-complex-network-of-front-companies-trading-in-counterfeit-medicine-321717 | title=Hezbollah maintains complex network of front companies trading in counterfeit medicine | work=Jerusalem Post | date=August 1, 2013}}

Hezbollah is known to be involved in the Cocaine trade,{{cite news |last1=Lev |first1=David |title=Hizbullah Sells Drugs in Europe |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135433 |access-date=19 January 2021 |publisher=Israel National News |date=9 January 2010}} and the Hashish trade.{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Jonathan |title=The Lebanese Connection Corruption, Civil War, and the International Drug Traffic |date=16 May 2012 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804782562 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJvh8E8in2IC |access-date=18 January 2021}} Hezbollah uses the drug trade as well as other "criminal enterprises" to fund its military excursions in Lebanon,{{Citation | last=Levitt | first=Matthew | date=25 May 2005 | title=Hezbollah: Financing Terror Through Criminal Enterprise | publisher=Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate | page=8 | url=http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/LevittTestimony.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050525135017/http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/LevittTestimony.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=25 May 2005 | access-date=19 January 2021 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hernández |first1=Joel |title=Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and the Globalization of Supply |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |date=August 2013 |volume=7 |issue=4 |page=42 |jstor=26296983 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26296983 |access-date=19 January 2021}} while some of their funds go to education and health assistance for the poor.{{cite web |last1=Deeb |first1=Lara |title=Hizballah: A Primer |date=31 July 2006 |url=https://merip.org/2006/07/hizballah-a-primer/ |website=Middle East Research and Information Project |access-date=19 January 2021}}

In September 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Lebanese ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Yusuf Finyanus, due to their "material support to Hezbollah" and other corruption charges.{{Cite web|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1116|title=Treasury Targets Hizballah's Enablers in Lebanon | U.S. Department of the Treasury|website=home.treasury.gov}} It also sanctioned Lebanon-based Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction for being owned, controlled, or directed by Hezbollah, in addition to Hezbollah Executive Council official Sultan Khalifah Asaad.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/us-sanctions-lebanon-companies-for-funnelling-millions-to-hezbollah-1.1079313|title=US sanctions Lebanon companies for funnelling millions to Hezbollah|website=The National |date=17 September 2020}}

On January 9, 2010, Der Spiegel reported that drug dealers, on behalf of Hezbollah, transfer millions to Lebanese groups via European narcotics transactions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3831853,00.html|title=Report: Hezbollah funded by drug trade|date=January 9, 2010|website=Ynetnews|last1=Stricker|first1=Sarah}}

In November 2018, following an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) called “Operation Cedar”, Lebanese nationals, accused of having links to Hezbollah went on trial for laundering millions of euros in South American drug money to Europe and Lebanon.[https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2018/11/19/hezbollah-on-trial-in-europe “Hezbollah on Trial in Europe”], Foundation for Defense of Democracies, November 19, 2018

According to a [https://janus-initiative.com/operation-cedar/ research] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022075751/https://janus-initiative.com/operation-cedar/ |date=2020-10-22 }} conducted by the Abba Eban Institute as part of an Initiative called Janus, some of the individuals arrested in “Operation Cedar” were Hezbollah operatives involved in money laundering and narcotics trafficking. The research also found that Hezbollah is financed through non-profit organizations such as the “Orphans Project Lebanon”, a German-based charity for Lebanese orphans. It found that it had been donating portions of its contributions to a foundation which finances the families of Hezbollah members who commit suicide bombings.{{Cite web|url=https://janus-initiative.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Hezbollah%E2%80%99s-Threat-in-Germany.pdf|title=Janus Initiative Research|access-date=2019-10-06|archive-date=2020-09-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913023555/https://janus-initiative.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Hezbollah%E2%80%99s-Threat-in-Germany.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The European Foundation for Democracy published that the “Orphans Project Lebanon” organization directly channels financial donations from Germany to the Lebanese Al-Shahid Association, which is part of the Hezbollah network and promotes suicide bombings in Lebanon, particularly among children. In Germany, financial donations to the Orphans Project Lebanon are tax-deductible and thus subsidized by the German State's tax policy.[https://europeandemocracy.eu/2009/07/efd-report-hezbollah-fundraising-in-germany-tax-deductible-2 EFD Report: Hezbollah fundraising in Germany tax-deductible] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006085944/https://europeandemocracy.eu/2009/07/efd-report-hezbollah-fundraising-in-germany-tax-deductible-2 |date=2019-10-06 }}, European Foundation for Democracy, July 13, 2009

On October 21, 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that an international cocaine smuggling and money laundering ring with alleged connections to Hezbollah was dismantled in Colombia. It is claimed that 12% of the group's profits went to fund Hezbollah, although no dollar figure was specified.{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cocainering22-2008oct22,0,384200.story?track=rss | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Drug probe finds Hezbollah link | first1=Chris | last1=Kraul | first2=Sebastian | last2=Rotella | date=October 22, 2008 | access-date=May 3, 2010}} A separate report claimed that the joint operations between the United States and Colombia resulted in the arrest of nearly 130 individuals suspected of being members of a cell formed from an alliance among a famous Colombian drug syndicate known as "North Valley", an armed leftist militant organisation composed by former and current members of FARC, and a group of smugglers of Lebanese origin.

Two years before, the United States and Colombia had launched a joint investigation, known by the operational codename "Titan", with the goal of pursuing networks that smuggled drugs from Colombia to the US, Europe and the Middle East. The investigation soon centred on the leader of the "North Valley" group, an individual of Lebanese origin called "Shukri Harb." Harb's network supplied 12 per cent of its revenues in cash directly to Hezbollah.{{cite news | url=https://strategynord.com/our-thinking/lebanese-hezbollahs-illicit-activities-and-international-networks/ | work=Strategy Nord | title=Lebanese Hezbollah's Illicit Activities and International Networks }}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

A June 25, 2009 article published by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C. think tank, reported on the allegations connecting Hezbollah to drug trafficking and money laundering incidents in Curaçao in April 2009 and previous incidents linking Hezbollah to cocaine and money laundering rings dismantled in Colombia and 2008 and a similar ring dismantled in June 2005. The article takes a critical approach to these allegations by questioning the veracity of accusations linking Hezbollah to the drug trade in the Americas. The article also reported that Lebanese organized crime groups are likely to be responsible for drug-related activities in the region and that solid evidence proving the Hezbollah angle to drug-related activities never emerges.Jamestown Foundation, Mystery Surrounds Alleged Hezbollah Links to Drug Arrests in Curacao [http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35183&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=6689061369] Accessed June 29, 2009

Other sources of Hezbollah funding became evident during a review of the Lebanese-Mexican smuggling network that smuggled 200 illegal Lebanese immigrants in the United States of America. Specifically, after Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, a Lebanese who infiltrated into the United States through the Lebanese-Mexican smuggling network was captured, Mahmound Youssef Kourani admitted spending part of his time in the United States raising money to support Hezbollah—at least $40,000, according to an FBI affidavit. A further check of court records indicated that Kourani told the FBI his brother is the group's (Hezbollah) chief of military security in southern Lebanon.Perri, Frank S., Lichtenwald, Terrance G. and MacKenzie, Paula M. (2009). "[http://www.all-about-psychology.com/support-files/crime-terror-nexus.pdf Evil Twin Towers: The Crime Terror Nexus]" Forensic Examiner Volume 18 Number 4 Winter 2009.

Members of the Bolivarian Venezuelan government have also been accused of providing financial aid to Hezbollah by the United States Department of the Treasury and according to the testimony of a former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States Department of State Roger Noriega, Hugo Chávez's government gave "indispensable support" to Iran and Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere.{{cite web |last1=Noriega |first1=Roger F. |title=Hezbollah in Latin America: Implications for U.S. Homeland Security |url=http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf |publisher=The House Committee on Homeland Security |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920031700/http://homeland.house.gov/sites/homeland.house.gov/files/Testimony%20Noriega.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2014 }} In an article by the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, Noriega explained how two witnesses alleged that Ghazi Atef Nassereddine, a Venezuelan diplomat in Syria, was an operative of Hezbollah who used Venezuelan entities to launder money for Hezbollah with President Nicolas Maduro's personal approval.

In a study by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), at least 173 people from the Middle East were caught with Venezuelan documentation. The majority passed through Caracas security improperly and traveled to Canada. The SFS states that the Venezuelan government has been instrumental in providing documents to "Iran and other extremists seeking to enter North America without being detected. According to Joseph Humire, Executive Director of SFS, those caught were from "Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon" and that "most were from Iran, Lebanon and Syria. 70% came from those countries and had some connection with Hezbollah".{{cite news|title=Venezuela, el principal nexo de Hezbollah para su ingreso a América del Norte|url=http://www.infobae.com/2014/09/10/1593759-venezuela-el-principal-nexo-hezbollah-su-ingreso-america-del-norte|access-date=12 September 2014|agency=Infobae|date=10 September 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Maria Delgado|first1=Antonio|title=Venezuela, trampolin del Hezbola|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/09/10/1839178/venezuela-trampolin-del-hezbola.html|access-date=12 September 2014|agency=El Nuevo Herald|date=10 September 2014|archive-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912234203/http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/09/10/1839178/venezuela-trampolin-del-hezbola.html|url-status=dead}}

The majority allegedly had Venezuelan passports, IDs, visas and in some cases, even Venezuelan birth certificates. Anthony Daquin, former security advisor involved in the modernization of the Venezuelan identity system stated in the report that the Venezuelan government will "be able to issue the Venezuelan document without any problem, from the University of Computer Sciences, because they have the equipment and supplies, including polycarbonate sheets, electronic signature that goes into passports and encryption certificates, which are those that allow the chip to be read at the airports".{{cite news|title=Venezuela, el principal nexo de Hezbollah para su ingreso a América del Norte|url=http://www.infobae.com/2014/09/10/1593759-venezuela-el-principal-nexo-hezbollah-su-ingreso-america-del-norte|access-date=12 September 2014|agency=Infobae|date=10 September 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Maria Delgado|first1=Antonio|title=Venezuela, trampolin del Hezbola|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/09/10/1839178/venezuela-trampolin-del-hezbola.html|access-date=12 September 2014|agency=El Nuevo Herald|date=10 September 2014|archive-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912234203/http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/09/10/1839178/venezuela-trampolin-del-hezbola.html|url-status=dead}}

One of the key figures of the Venezuelan government noted in the SFS report was the Lebanese born former Minister of the Interior, Tarek El Aissami, who allegedly "developed a sophisticated financial network and multi-level networks as a criminal-terrorist pipeline to bring Islamic militants to Venezuela and neighboring countries, and to send illicit funds from Latin America to the Middle East". The "pipeline" consists of 40 shell companies which have bank accounts in Venezuela, Panama, Curaçao, St. Lucia, Miami and Lebanon. Tarek El Aissami's father Zaidan El Amin El Aissami, who is also known as Carlos Zaidan, was a military associate of Saddam Hussein.{{cite news|title=Venezuela, el principal nexo de Hezbollah para su ingreso a América del Norte|url=http://www.infobae.com/2014/09/10/1593759-venezuela-el-principal-nexo-hezbollah-su-ingreso-america-del-norte|access-date=12 September 2014|agency=Infobae|date=10 September 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Maria Delgado|first1=Antonio|title=Venezuela, trampolin del Hezbola|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/09/10/1839178/venezuela-trampolin-del-hezbola.html|access-date=12 September 2014|agency=El Nuevo Herald|date=10 September 2014|archive-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912234203/http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/09/10/1839178/venezuela-trampolin-del-hezbola.html|url-status=dead}}

In 2011, the United States Treasury designated Lebanese Canadian Bank a "primary money laundering concern" for its role in money laundering for Hezbollah funder and drug kingpin Ayman Joumaa.[http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-treasury-lebanese-bank-laundering-millions-to-hezbollah-linked-group-1.342550?localLinksEnabled=false "U.S. Treasury: Lebanese bank laundering millions to Hezbollah-linked group."] Reuters, 10 February 2011. The US Treasury banned LCB from dealing in dollars, resulting in the sale of the bank.Karouny, Mariam. "[https://www.reuters.com/article/lebanon-bank-idUSLDE7222G420110303 Lebanon's LCB to merge with Societe Generale unit]", Reuters website, 3 March 2011. (Retrieved 10 July 2016).

Operation Smokescreen identified an illegal multimillion-dollar cigarette smuggling fundraising operation in the United States.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23384-2004Jun7.html Cigarette Smuggling Linked to Terrorism], The Washington Post Mohammed Hammoud was convicted in the United States for "violating a ban on material support of groups designated as terrorist organizations". The amount was US$3,500, which Hammoud claimed was to "support Hezbollah's efforts to distribute books at schools and improve public water systems."Washington Post, June 22, 2002 [https://swap.stanford.edu/20090417174214/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A26122-2002Jun21¬Found= N.C. Man Convicted Of Aiding Hezbollah] Accessed August 6, 2006

Hezbollah created a financial network in Africa, mainly in Western and Central Africa. This network operates in addition to the funding it receives from Iran. The group is made up of the Shiite Lebanese diaspora in West Africa and are involved in several activities.

Hezbollah gets money from businesses owned by Lebanese people in countries like Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Business owners are often asked to give money once or twice a year. Sometimes they give it willingly, but other times they are forced to pay. The money is usually collected in cash and taken to Lebanon by people carrying it.{{Cite news |date=2024-10-12 |title=How Hezbollah raises funds in West Africa |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2024/10/12/how-hezbollah-raises-funds-in-west-africa_6729206_124.html |access-date=2025-05-01 |language=en}}

Hezbollah is deeply involved in money laundering. It uses both legal businesses—like food companies, phone services, and real estate—and illegal activities, such as smuggling and avoiding taxes. People like Kassim Tajideen and his family have sent millions of dollars from Africa to Hezbollah. This has led the U.S. to punish them with sanctions and legal action.

West Africa is an important stop for drug trafficking, especially for cocaine coming from South America. Hezbollah members like Ayman Joumaa have cleaned hundreds of millions of dollars made from drug sales by using businesses in Africa. The money is then sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon. They often work with drug cartels from South America, using West Africa to move drugs and hide the money.{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Clara Broekaert, Colin P. |date=2025 |title=How Hezbollah Diversified Its Funding |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/11/25/hezbollah-funding-crime-terror-nexus-trump/ |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}}

In places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, traders connected to Hezbollah take part in the illegal diamond trade. The money they make from this is sent back to Lebanon, giving Hezbollah a steady flow of income that is hard to track.{{Cite web |last=Levitt |first=Matthew |date=2023 |title=Episode 4: Blood Diamonds, Picassos, and Illicit Financing in Africa |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/media/6872}}

Hezbollah also gets money through charities, which often hide their real purpose. In Nigeria, for example, the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association has been used to collect money for Hezbollah, pretending it's to help the Lebanese community.{{Cite web |title=Hezbollah faces bleak new financial realities |url=https://en.majalla.com/node/323535/business-economy/hezbollah-faces-bleak-new-financial-realities |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=en.majalla.com |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Aryn |date=2024-10-21 |title=What Is Al-Qard al-Hasan, the Hezbollah-Linked Finance Group Targeted by Israel? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/21/world/middleeast/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-bank.html |access-date=2025-05-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

{{See also|Hezbollah-Iran relations|Funding of the Axis of Resistance}}

Hezbollah has also received Iranian-supplied weaponry, including 11,500 missiles already in place in southern Lebanon. 3,000 Hezbollah militants have undergone training in Iran, which included guerrilla warfare, firing missiles and rocket artillery, operating unmanned drones, naval warfare, and conventional war operations.{{cite news|url=http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5651|title=Iran Provider of Hezbollah's Weaponry|publisher=Asharq Alawsat|date=July 16, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302170158/http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=5651|archive-date=March 2, 2007|access-date=January 30, 2007}}

Mahmoud Ali Suleiman, the Hezbollah operative captured in August 2006 by the IDF for his role in the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, admitted during his interrogation that he received weapons-training and religious instruction in Iran. He told his interrogators that he rode in a civilian car to Damascus, from where he flew to Iran.{{Cite news|date=2006-08-07|title=Hizbollah fighter tells Israel he trained in Iran|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/07/AR2006080700629.html|access-date=2020-05-07|issn=0190-8286}} Other than the Russian-made Katyusha, Hezbollah's reported artillery cache is entirely Iranian-made.

On August 4, 2006, Jane's Defence Weekly, a defense industry magazine, reported that Hezbollah asked Iran for "a constant supply of weapons to support its operations against Israel" in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The report cited Western diplomatic sources as saying that Iranian authorities promised Hezbollah a steady supply of weapons "for the next stage of the confrontation".{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2275334 |title=Missiles neutralizing Israeli tanks |access-date=2006-08-07 |date=4 August 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618044108/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2275334 |archive-date=June 18, 2008 }}

Iran long denied supplying Hezbollah with weapons,{{Cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG20Ak02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720154531/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG20Ak02.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-07-20|title=atimes.com|website=www.atimes.com|access-date=2007-02-18}}[http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1153292020585 "Iran denies giving aid to Hizbullah", Jerusalem Post, July 28, 2006]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} despite persistent reports to the contrary.AFP, August 4, 2006 [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20025299-23109,00.html Iran to supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missiles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012064717/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20025299-23109,00.html |date=2008-10-12 }} Accessed August 5, 2006{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64337.htm|title=Country Reports on Terrorism: State Sponsors of Terror Overview|access-date=2006-07-17|author=Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism|date=2006-04-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=387wmv&ak=null|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090846/http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=387wmv&ak=null|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-09-29|title=CastUP: 387 Abd al rahim murad final-3|access-date=2007-01-30}} However, "Mohtashami Pur, a one-time ambassador to Lebanon who currently holds the title of secretary-general of the 'Intifada conference,' told an Iranian newspaper that Iran transferred the missiles to the Shi'ite militia, adding that Hezbollah has his country's blessing to use the weapons in defense of Lebanon".Haaretz, August 5, 2006 [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=746631 Iranian official admits Tehran supplied missiles to Hezbollah] Accessed August 5, 2006 The Israel Defense Forces regard Hezbollah as virtually an arm of the Iranian armed forces; a senior Israeli defence official told Jane's Defence Weekly that "we should consider that what we are facing in Lebanon is not a militia but rather a special forces brigade of the Iranian Army.""Israel to counter Hizbullah forces", Jane's Defence Weekly, 26 July 2006 In an interview in 2007, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem told the Iranian Arabic-language TV station al-Qawthar that all suicide bombings and other operations in Lebanon must be approved by the ayatollahs in Tehran; in 2008 Iran issued a stamp commemorating a recently killed Hezbollah leader.[http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=262393468089425 Separating Mullahs From Their Moolah] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011091905/http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=262393468089425 |date=2008-10-11 }}, Investor's Business Daily, April 25, 2007; accessed September 22, 2008.[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-10-2091828309_x.htm Iran unveils Hezbollah commander stamp], USA Today, March 10, 2008; accessed September 22, 2008.

In a 2016 speech, Nasrallah publicly announced for the first time that all of his organization’s funding comes directly from Iran, “The budget of Hizbullah, its salaries, its expenses, its food, its drink, its weapons, and its missiles come from the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Nasrallah added that the funding is directly transferred to the group, not through banks and other financial institutions, “As long as Iran has money, we have money… Just as we receive the rockets that we use to threaten Israel, we are receiving our money.” {{cite news |title=In first, Hezbollah confirms all financial support comes from Iran |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2016/06/25/In-first-Hezbollah-s-Nasrallah-confirms-all-financial-support-comes-from-Iran |access-date=5 April 2024 |publisher=Al Arabiya English}}

As of 2018, annual Iranian monetary support for Hezbollah is estimated at 700 million dollars according to US estimates.

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, as of 2024, Iran has begun to ship weapons by sea in lieu of attacks by the Israeli air force on weapons deliveries coming into northern Syria via Iraq. Weapons and other goods are now shipped to the Syrian port of Latakia, and from there are sent to southern Lebanon. Iran is reportedly utilizing ships that eventually dock at European ports as cover for the shipments.{{cite news |title=Report: Iran Using EU Ports to Transfer Weapons to Hezbollah |url=https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4912711-report-iran-using-eu-ports-transfer-weapons-hezbollah |access-date=5 April 2024 |publisher=Asharq Al-Awsat}}

{{main|Hezbollah–Syria relations}}

Similar claims and denials regarding supply of weapons have been made with respect to Ba'athist Syria.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/hezbollah/index.html |title=Hezbollah: Violence mixed with social mission |publisher=CNN |date=2006-06-13 |access-date=2006-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717003221/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/hezbollah/index.html |archive-date=2006-07-17 |url-status=dead }} Many have accused the Assad regime of funneling the weapons to Hezbollah from its border with Lebanon. Hassan Khalil, a top political adviser to Nasrallah, said that the group "firmly opposes the supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border," adding that "Hezbollah has enough weapons to defend Lebanon against [an] Israeli aggression, even if borders with Syria are completely closed".{{cite web |url=http://english.wa3ad.org/index.php?show=news&action=article&id=1273 |title=....:: Promise ::.... For the Support of the Resistance Movement |access-date=2007-04-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223535/http://english.wa3ad.org/index.php?show=news&action=article&id=1273 |archive-date=2007-09-27 }} Hizbullah Has Enough Arms to Defend Country

Due to a modification of terrorist funding laws the U.S. government placed financial sanctions on an Iraqi military leader named Al-Zaydi who allegedly was linked to Hezbollah financial activities and military support which was coordinated by Iran.Wroughton, Lesley & McKeef, Clive. (13 November 2018). "U.S. designates son of Hezbollah leader a terrorist." [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-hezbollah/u-s-designates-son-of-hezbollah-leader-a-terrorist-idUSKCN1NI2HW Reuters website] Retrieved 16 November 2018.United States Department of Treasury. (November 13, 2018. Press Release) "Treasury Sanctions Key Hizballah, IRGC-QF Networks in Iraq." [https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm546 US Treasury website] Retrieved 16 November 2018.

A private security contractor, Jason G., claimed that Qatar sponsored Hezbollah as early as 2017, in which he was offered €750,000 by Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Sulaiman al-Khulaifi, Qatar's ambassador to Belgium, to hush up the supply of money and weapons to the organization.{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/qatari-diplomat-allegedly-covered-up-hezbollah-terror-financing-636690 |title=Qatari diplomat allegedly covered up Hezbollah terror funding - exclusive |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=30 July 2020 }}

In September 2021, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the government of Qatar conducted a joint operation to uncover and sanction a financing network used by Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization based in Arabian Peninsula. According to the United States, Hezbollah abused the international financial system and announced that the U.S. will protect the international financial systems from terrorist abuse and cooperate with their partners like Qatar.{{Cite web |title=The United States and Qatar Take Actions Against Hizballah Financial Network |url=https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-and-qatar-take-actions-against-hizballah-financial-network/ |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=United States Department of State |language=en}}

• Hezbollah Captagon smuggling to Saudi Arabia
• Illegal drug trade in Lebanon

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Category:Hezbollah

Category:Foreign relations of Hezbollah

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