Britain has designated the entire Hezbollah organization as a terrorist group and subjected it to an asset-freezing.
The Finance Ministry move is part of the implementation of the UK’s Terrorism and Terrorist Financing rules.
Until now, only Hezbollah’s military wing was subject to having its assets frozen under UK rules.
In 2008, Britain banned Hezbollah’s armed wing. Last year, the British government announced it will blacklist the entire group, but the new asset-freezing announcement is the first concrete step taken in that direction.
The change followed an annual review of the asset-freezing register, bringing it in line with a decision in March to blacklist the group, a treasury spokesman said.
“The UK remains committed to the stability of Lebanon and the region, and we continue to work closely with our Lebanese partners,” the finance ministry explained.
Hezbollah has “publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings”, he said.
“The group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism and was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in March 2019,” it added.
“This listing includes the Military Wing, the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organisation.”
British Interior Minister Sajid Javid said in a tweet: “We will take whatever action is necessary to tackle terror groups that threaten our security. Hizballah (sic) itself makes no distinction between its military and political wings. Nor do we.”
