مصرف لبنان يحظر التعامل مع «مؤسسة القرض الحسن» والمبعوث الأمريكي يشيد

The American envoy Tom Barak praised today (Tuesday) the step taken by the Central Bank of Lebanon to prohibit dealings with the "Qard al-Hassan" institution affiliated with Hezbollah, describing it as a "valuable achievement" and a step in the right direction by the Lebanese government to control the flow of funds to Hezbollah that were passing through that institution.

Barak said in a tweet on his account on "X": "Enhancing transparency and subjecting all financial intermediaries in Lebanon to the oversight of the Central Bank of Lebanon is an important and necessary achievement," noting that the fear of disarming Hezbollah and the government's prevention of this could lead to a civil war.

The Central Bank of Lebanon had prohibited in a circular today licensed financial institutions from any direct or indirect dealings with the Qard al-Hassan institution affiliated with Hezbollah, warning in the statement banks and exchange companies in Lebanon against dealing with unlicensed entities, with the Qard al-Hassan institution being an example of that.

The decision by the Central Bank of Lebanon came at a time when the U.S. Treasury tightened its sanctions on the Qard al-Hassan institution, which had already been sanctioned in 2007. On July 3 of this year, the U.S. Treasury issued sanctions against seven senior officials and one entity linked to the institution itself, confirming that Hezbollah uses it as a cover to manage its financial activities and as a conduit to access the international financial system.

The institution has dozens of branches in Lebanon, but the American decision affected many of those branches, most notably "Tashilat Company S.A.L.", "Al-Yusr Financing and Investment Company", and "Bayt Al-Mal for Muslims".