Iraq orders banks to enforce Hezbollah-linked sanctions
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq's Ministry of Finance has directed all banks and affiliated state bodies to enforce US sanctions imposed separately on a network of individuals and companies linked to ISIS and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political and armed movement
According to official documents reviewed by Shafaq News, the circular instructs the institutions to take the measures required under US Executive Order 13224, the American counterterrorism sanctions authority.
The directive was sent to banks, departments, bodies, and companies operating under the ministry, instructing them to act against the designated persons and entities. It followed a designation announced by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June 2026.
Based on the documents, the circular was issued by the Director General of the Economic Department and the head of the Iraqi Fund for External Development, a state body that manages Iraq's external development financing.
The Designated Network
The US designation names three individuals. Sleiman Antoine Frangie, as head of Lebanon's Marada Movement, a Lebanese political party, was accused of maintaining close ties with Hezbollah and using his political influence to secure economic benefits that serve the group. It identified Mahmoud Qmati as deputy head of Hezbollah's political council, and Wael Costanteen as chief executive of Al Shafa Administrative Services Limited, whom the Treasury accused of managing a financing network tied to a figure it named as Alaa Hasan Hamiyah.
Five entities appear on the list. They include Al Shafa Administrative Services Limited, also identified as HEAL, an administrative services firm the documents say was registered in Baghdad on June 29, 2025 under registration number 30787; Globe Technology Providers SARL, a Lebanese information technology and telecommunications company; Globe International SPC, registered in Oman; Al-'Ahd Company for Trade and Investment, a Syrian trade and investment firm; and Tyke SAL, a Lebanese wholesale trading company. The Treasury described the companies as part of a commercial and financial network supporting Hezbollah, according to the documents.
Legal Effects
Under the US measures, all assets belonging to the designated individuals and entities within American jurisdiction are frozen, and US persons and institutions are barred from dealing with them. The Treasury may also impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate transactions for the designated parties, whether directly or indirectly.
The transmittal from the Ministry of Finance carried a ministerial margin annotation dated July 7, 2026, directing the relevant bodies to act on the circular.
Earlier Moves
Iraq previously added Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi movement (Ansarallah) to its terrorism-finance blacklist, to align with UN Security Council sanctions and global counterterrorism standards.
The designations were issued by the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds and published in the Official Gazette Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya (Issue 4848) on 17 November 2025.
The measures were grounded in the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Law No. 39 of 2015, the Freezing of Terrorist Funds Bylaw No. 6 of 2023, and UN sanctions frameworks targeting ISIS, al-Qaeda, and affiliated networks.
A senior government official told Shafaq News at the time that the move reflects Baghdad’s effort to bring its regulatory and oversight systems in line with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements and to meet its international obligations on counterterrorism.
Less than a week later, the Committee for Freezing Terrorist Funds revised the designation after determining that two entries had been included “by mistake.”
Read more: Iraq’s backtrack on Hezbollah–Houthi listing exposes a high-stakes regional tightrope
