In a sign of the deepening strain between Hezbollah and Lebanon’s state institutions, the group’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, on Oct. 21 accused the central-bank governor and the justice minister of acting on “foreign orders.” His unusually direct remarks followed new government circulars tightening scrutiny of financial transfers and what officials called “suspicious entities.”
The outburst underscored rising tension between the Iran-backed movement and a state apparatus under pressure to enforce international sanctions. Qassem said the measures amounted to “a systematic campaign” to choke Hezbollah’s financial base. “The governor of the Central Bank is not an employee of America, and the justice minister is not a judicial officer for America and Israel,” he declared, calling on the government to intervene.
His comments came as Lebanon faces mounting external pressure after Hezbollah’s battlefield losses to Israel and amid an accelerating economic crisis at home. Regulators have begun restricting capital flows and tightening oversight of border crossings – steps seen as aligning Beirut more closely with Western demands to curb Hezbollah’s influence.
Analysts describe these moves as part of a broader “silent war” waged by the United States and its allies, one that substitutes financial isolation for direct confrontation. The strategy aims to dry up the revenue sustaining Hezbollah’s military wing and its vast social network, which spans clinics, schools, and reconstruction projects across Lebanon.
Washington’s Expanding Campaign
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified what it calls “maximum pressure” on Iran and its regional proxies. In July, the Treasury Department sanctioned seven senior officials tied to Al-Qard al-Hassan, Hezbollah’s quasi-banking charity long accused of giving the group access to the formal financial system. Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah – who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut last year – had been under U.S. sanctions since 2018, and earlier measures forced Lebanon’s Jammal Trust Bank to shut down for allegedly servicing the group.
Congress has also passed legislation penalizing any financial institution that deals with Hezbollah, a policy that has prompted Lebanese banks to close accounts linked to suspected affiliates. Washington’s Rewards for Justice program now offers millions of dollars for information on Hezbollah’s funding networks – an unprecedented bounty campaign that extends the financial war into the intelligence domain.
This approach has drawn wide support abroad. Canada, Germany, Britain, and Australia have outlawed Hezbollah in its entirety, while Argentina and several Latin-American nations have banned it for alleged money-laundering and drug-trafficking operations. The Gulf Cooperation Council did the same in 2016 after the group’s intervention in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime.
U.S. officials estimate Hezbollah’s annual income at around $1 billion, drawn from Iranian subsidies, business investments, and illicit trade. A 2025 report by Canada’s Finance Ministry found the group exploiting charity fronts, cryptocurrencies, and narcotics smuggling, particularly cocaine and captagon, through networks stretching from South America to the Middle East. Terrorism expert Matthew Levitt told the U.S. Senate that Hezbollah operates in Latin-American free-trade zones he called “black holes” for laundering money and financing terrorism.
A Squeeze from Within
In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s finances have grown precarious. Following its latest war with Israel, authorities targeted branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, tightened airport and border controls, and banned Iranian airlines from landing. Dozens of civil servants were dismissed over suspected Hezbollah ties.
The central bank joined the effort in September with Circular 170, prohibiting financial institutions from dealing with unlicensed or sanctioned entities, including Al-Qard al-Hassan and several affiliated firms. Justice Minister Adel Nassar followed in October with a decree barring notaries from handling transactions for anyone under international sanctions.
Economist Khaled Abu Shakra said the new measures are meant to protect Lebanon – already on the Financial Action Task Force’s “gray list” – from further isolation. “Any lax enforcement could undermine confidence in the banking sector,” he told Alhurra. Yet he noted that the central bank’s authority is limited: revoking the licenses of NGOs tied to Hezbollah requires judicial approval, and the country’s cash-based economy, which makes up more than half of GDP, hampers oversight.
Abu Shakra added that the Special Investigation Commission cooperates with Western embassies and the EU’s Global Facility unit to strengthen anti-money-laundering mechanisms. Still, he said, “the bank cannot openly dismantle Hezbollah’s funding channels – they remain the backbone of its power alongside its weapons.”
Researcher Mohassen Mersel, who studies financial crimes, said Hezbollah increasingly depends on what she called “the black economy” – tax evasion, customs fraud, and underground transfers. “These are areas Lebanese authorities are only beginning to control,” she said.
Slow but Effective Strangulation
The combination of shrinking Iranian support and expanding sanctions has left Hezbollah facing what some analysts describe as an existential challenge. The group has reportedly suspended reconstruction payments and social stipends once used to secure loyalty in its strongholds. In public, it blames Lebanon’s government for the shortfall, portraying the crisis as a failure of the state rather than of its own finances.
“The restrictions on Hezbollah-linked institutions directly weaken their ability to fund rebuilding projects,” Abu Shakra said. He argued that compliance with international standards is no longer optional but vital to attract investment and prevent deeper sanctions. Mersel agreed, warning that Lebanon’s inclusion on the FATF gray list “shows the state still hasn’t taken serious, structural steps to combat money-laundering and terror-finance.”
For now, the financial siege appears to be working – slowly, quietly, but effectively. Hezbollah’s once-limitless resources are narrowing, and the same state institutions it long sought to dominate are now, under foreign pressure, tightening the noose.
