The United States on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on Hezbollah, targeting a network that Washington says has moved hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to the Lebanese armed group through commercial air routes across the Middle East and re-designating Hezbollah for acting on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it was sanctioning 10 individuals involved in a courier network that has transferred cash between Lebanon, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, providing Hezbollah with access to foreign currency outside the formal financial system and helping it evade sanctions.

The action also formally re-designates Hezbollah under the U.S. government's counterterrorism authority, Executive Order 13224, for what Treasury described as acting under the direction of the IRGC-Quds Force, the elite Iranian military unit responsible for operations outside Iran.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the re-designation was intended to underscore Washington's assessment that Hezbollah operates on behalf of the Iranian government, specifically the Quds Force.

The move comes as Washington continues to pressure Iran over its regional activities. The U.S. official said Thursday's sanctions were separate from new measures the Trump administration has threatened against Iran itself.

President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that countries providing "any type of lifeline to Iran" could face economic consequences as Washington seeks to resolve a war it began alongside Israel nearly six months ago.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier Thursday that he would hold a news conference on Monday to announce what he described as the "toughest sanctions in history" against Iran.

Cash couriers and exchange houses

According to Treasury, the network targeted on Thursday was once associated with Behnam Shahriyari, a now-deceased IRGC-Quds Force financial official who was involved in moving money to Iranian-backed armed groups across the region.

Washington said the network illustrates the range of methods used by Hezbollah and its allies to generate and transfer funds, including oil smuggling, illicit shipping, commodity sales and bulk cash smuggling.

At the center of the network is Turkish businessman Yunus Alper Yilmaz, whom Treasury accused of managing couriers responsible for transporting cash between countries in the region and Hezbollah's base in Lebanon.

Yilmaz allegedly used exchange houses in Türkiye as fronts for his business activities and supplied front companies and bank accounts for transfers linked to the Quds Force, according to Treasury.

Among his associates were couriers Halil Ibrahim Kacmaz and Onder Dede, who collected cash from exchange houses, and Vasfi Akyuz, who coordinated logistics for the couriers while also transporting money himself.

Treasury identified five additional couriers — Mehmet Akyuz, Mehmet Acur, Feyyad Karasalih, Masoud Mousafar, Gulay Kaya Savci and Emrah Ayaz — whom it accused of covertly carrying cash destined for Hezbollah on commercial flights to Lebanon.

The network used airline passengers to move potentially hundreds of millions of dollars between jurisdictions, according to Treasury, allowing Hezbollah to obtain foreign currency while bypassing conventional banking channels.

Yilmaz, Kacmaz and Dede were sanctioned for allegedly providing financial, material or technological support, goods or services to the IRGC-Quds Force.

Akyuz, Acur, Karasalih, Mousafar, Savci and Ayaz were designated for allegedly providing similar support to Hezbollah.

Washington links Hezbollah directly to Iran's Quds Force

Alongside the individual sanctions, OFAC re-designated Hezbollah for being owned, controlled or directed by, or acting on behalf of, the IRGC-Quds Force.

Treasury cited the Quds Force's coordination of Hezbollah attacks and what it described as its deep involvement in directing the group's political decision-making.

Hezbollah, which operates both as a political party and an armed organization in Lebanon, has long acknowledged its close relationship with Iran. Tehran provides the group with extensive political, military and financial support, while Hezbollah has described itself as part of Iran's broader "resistance" network in the region.

The United States first designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2001.

Washington designated the IRGC-Quds Force as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2007 for providing material support to terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah. The State Department designated the Quds Force as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019.

The Revolutionary Guards helped establish Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982, during the country's 1975-1990 civil war, as part of Iran's efforts to export its Islamic Revolution and oppose Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon that year.

What the sanctions mean

The new designations freeze any property or interests in property belonging to the sanctioned individuals or entities that are in the United States or under the control of U.S. persons. Such assets must be reported to OFAC.

Companies that are directly or indirectly at least 50% owned, individually or collectively, by blocked persons are also subject to the freeze.

U.S. individuals and companies are generally prohibited from conducting transactions involving the property of designated persons unless authorized by OFAC or otherwise exempt.

The restrictions also prohibit providing funds, goods or services to sanctioned individuals and entities, as well as receiving such support from them.

Violations can expose U.S. and foreign individuals and companies to civil or criminal penalties. OFAC can impose civil penalties on a strict-liability basis, meaning that a violation can result in liability even without proof that the person intended to breach the sanctions.

Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from deliberately causing U.S. persons to violate sanctions or taking steps to evade them.

Foreign financial institutions involved in certain significant transactions with sanctioned individuals can additionally face the risk of secondary sanctions. OFAC has the authority to restrict or impose conditions on their access to U.S. correspondent and payable-through accounts.