WASHINGTON (AP) — Qatar and its adversaries in the Persian Gulf crisis have finally agreed to do something together: join the U.S. in placing terror sanctions on the Iranian ally Hezbollah. At the same time, the six Gulf members of the TFTC -- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates -- declared sanctions on another nine individuals and firms part of or linked to Hezbollah that were already blacklisted by the US Treasury. The US and Saudi-led Terrorist Financing and Targeting Center said the sanctions were aimed at Hezbollah's Shura Council, the powerful Lebanese militia's decision-making council, led by the Shiite group's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. The U.S. Treasury Department said four other individuals were also sanctioned, as was the group ISIS in the Greater Sahara, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Shortly thereafter, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain cut off ties to Qatar and moved to isolate it economically. The spat has remained in a stalemate despite intermittent attempts by the U.S. to mediate or to hasten a resolution. Most of the Hezbollah officials were already under heavy U.S. sanctions, so the actions will have limited practical implication in the United States. Coming after the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8, the Treasury said Wednesdays actions are part of a efforts to go after "the totality of Iran's malign activities and regionally destabilizing behavior, including that of Hezbollah." Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Ali Thani, discussed Qatar’s efforts to counter terrorism financing, the State Department said. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Pompeo emphasized the Trump administration’s commitment to working with all the Gulf nations to ensure sanctions are “fully enforced” and prevent the nations’ financial systems from being exploited by terrorists.
The United States and six Arab states of the Persian Gulf add more sanctions on Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem.