Treasury sanctions Hizballah-linked gold exchange firm, shipping network

WASHINGTON, February 10, 2026 — The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it targeted two channels it alleges help finance Hizballah: converting the group’s gold reserves into usable cash in Lebanon and an international procurement and commodities-shipping scheme linked to Hizballah financiers operating across the region, including in Iran.

OFAC sanctioned Jood SARL, a Lebanese gold exchange company it said operates under the supervision of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a U.S.-designated Hizballah-controlled entity that Treasury says functions like a bank while presenting itself as a nongovernmental organization. Treasury said Jood was set up to evade sanctions and that it planned or opened branches in predominantly Shiite areas, including Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and Nabatiyeh.

Treasury also sanctioned Russian national Andrey Viktorovich Borisov and multiple companies tied to a shipping and procurement network it linked to Iran-based Hizballah finance operative Ali Qasir. Treasury described a late-2025 transaction in which fertilizer exports from Iran to Turkey were allegedly routed using false origin claims, with cargo moved via the vessels BRILLIANCE and LARA and associated shipping entities.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action aims to cut the group off from the global financial system.