President Barack Obama on Monday extended a freeze on the assets of individuals who are linked to activities that undermine Lebanese stability. The extension lasts for one more year. The president’s reasoning was
candid:

In a letter addressed to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate, Obama extended for one additional year a 2007 decision to freeze the assets of individuals whose activities undermine stability in Lebanon. “Certain ongoing activities, such as continuing arms transfers to Hezbollah that include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems, serve to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in Lebanon, and continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” Obama said in the letter.

Israel has committed to acting militarily in order to block weapons transfers to the Iran-backed terror group, and Obama has backed the Jewish state in enforcing those commitments.

U.S. counterterrorism officials have been increasingly explicit in accusing the Iran-backed terror group of destabilizing Lebanon. Hezbollah’s activities in Syria – where its assistance has enabled the Bashar al-Assad regime to steadily erode two years of rebel gains – have been blasted by U.S. officials for the cascade effects of their activity:

“It has been and will be the most serious discussion on Hezbollah they’ve had,” said a U.S. counterterror official who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly. “Stability in Lebanon has been one of the main European arguments for not designating Hezbollah. But when they see what Hezbollah is doing Syria, which is exacerbating instability there and creating spillover into Lebanon, causing instability there as well, it changes this perspective.”

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