WASHINGTON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury said Wednesday that it slapped sanctions on two individuals and three entities that are allegedly acting as conduits for sanctions evasion schemes for Hezbollah.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement that it designated Belgian national Wael Bazzi and Lebanese national Hassan Tabaja for acting for or on behalf of their family members who are Hezbollah financiers.

The three blacklisted Europe-based entities are owned or controlled by Bazzi, according to the statement.

As a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of those sanctioned targets that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction will be blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them, the statement noted.

The statement added that the designated targets are subject to secondary sanctions.

"By targeting Hassan Tabaja and Wael Bazzi and their European-based companies, this Administration is continuing to disrupt all avenues of financial support relied upon by Hizballah (Hezbollah)," said Sigal Mandelker, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The United States has for long designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that the United States would continue to use all peaceful means to deter Hezbollah and Iran's influence in the region.

In response, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil argued that Hezbollah is a Lebanese party and it should not be labeled as "terrorist" because it was elected by the Lebanese people. Enditem

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