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US sanctions Iran-linked Iraqi paramilitary group
Washington is taking action against Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-aligned Iraqi paramilitary group and one of the country’s most heavily armed factions, according to a statement released by the US State Department.
“Today, the United States is taking action under Operation Economic Outcast targeting Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), Hizballah, and the broader financial networks that sustain Iran’s campaign of regional destabilization,” State Department spokesman Thomas Pigott said.
Piggot said the group and those linked to it serve as Iran’s “instruments for projecting violence and subversion across the Middle East”, adding that it threatens the security of Iraq, Lebanon, the safety of American personnel and diplomatic facilities in the region, as well as global energy flows, reports AL Jazeera.
Kataib Hezbollah – which is a US-designated “terrorist” organisation – has explicitly rejected the Iraqi government’s mandate for paramilitary groups to disarm, pledging instead to retain what it calls “resistance weapons” and further develop its arsenal.