Lebanon Starring The Use Of Cash To Comply With The US To Intercept The Hezbollah Funding Flow

Illustration of a man using an ATM to withdraw cash. (Ferhat E. Arslan-Pexels)

JAKARTA - Lebanon announced on Friday that money changers or money exchanges and transfer companies in its country must comply with stricter rules. This is based on Lebanon facing heavy pressure from the US to regulate its cash economy in order to intercept Hezbollah's funding.

Citing AFP, this step was taken days after a US official visiting Lebanon said the US had a mission to break Iran's alleged funding chain for Hezbollah.

The US official explained that it was based on the US Treasury's claim that it had found the fact that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had transferred more than $1 billion to Hezbollah this year, particularly through money exchange companies.

Lebanese authorities are known to be facing heavy pressure from the US to accelerate efforts to defuse weapons from Hezbollah members, a group that weakened after the recent war with Israel.

On the one hand, Lebanon is also amid concerns over the spread of Israeli military action.

The Central Bank statement said, "to remove Lebanon from the gray list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ... Lebanese central banks have taken the first steps in a series of precautions aimed at strengthening compliance environments in the financial sector."