Specifically, OFAC designated Nabil Qaouk (Qaouk) and Hassan al-Baghdadi (Baghdadi) for being leaders or officials of Hizballah. Nabil Qaouk and Hassan al-Baghdadi are leaders or officials of Hizballah, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended.
Qaouk has served on Hizballah’s Executive Council, which oversees the group’s social and economic activities, as well as its Central Council. In recent years, he has spoken publicly on behalf of Hizballah, threatening war with Israel, denouncing the U.S. presence in the region, and lauding Hizballah’s use of guerrilla warfare, which serves only to erode security in Lebanon. Qaouk has also delivered speeches on behalf of Hizballah at several ceremonies commemorating deceased Hizballah terrorists, including the former Hizballah External Security Organization chief Imad Mughniyah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani, both of whom were responsible for the deaths of countless Americans. Mughniyah was designated in October 2001 for his ties to Hizballah, and Soleimani was designated in October 2011 for acting for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF.
Baghdadi, who has publicly identified himself as a Hizballah official, has participated in political events and delivered speeches on behalf of Hizballah. In several speeches, he praised Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and defended Hizballah’s targeting of Americans. In 2020, Baghdadi attended a symposium in Lebanon during which he commended the IRGC and fighters in Syria and Iraq for attacking U.S. military bases. OFAC and members of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) designated Nasrallah in May 2018 for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah, which he has led since 1992. OFAC previously designated Nasrallah in January 1995 for threatening to disrupt the Middle East peace process and in September 2012 for providing support to the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad.
In 2015, Baghdadi attended a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, with Naim Qassem and several other ranking officials, during which Qassem unveiled his book and praised Hizballah’s war with Israel. OFAC and the TFTC designated Qassem, the Deputy Secretary General of Hizballah, in May 2018 for acting for or on behalf of Hizballah.
On June 6, 2003, OFAC issued the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 594 (68 FR 34196, June 6, 2003 (“the Regulations”), to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 of September 23, 2001, “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism” (66 FR 49079, September 25, 2001). OFAC has amended the Regulations on several occasions.
On September 9, 2019, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA) and the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), issued E.O. 13886, “Modernizing Sanctions To Combat Terrorism” (84 FR 48041, September 12, 2019), effective September 10, 2019. In E.O. 13886, the President, finding it necessary to consolidate and enhance sanctions to combat acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism by foreign terrorists, terminated the national emergency declared in E.O. 12947 of January 23, 1995, “Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process” (60 FR 5079, January 25, 1995), and revoked E.O. 12947, as amended by E.O. 13099 of August 20, 1998, “Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process” (63 FR 45167, August 25, 1998). In addition, the President amended E.O. 13224, in order to build upon initial steps taken in E.O. 12947, to further strengthen and consolidate sanctions to combat the continuing threat posed by international terrorism, and in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency declared in E.O. 13224, with respect to the continuing and immediate threat of grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, which include acts of terrorism that threaten the Middle East peace process.
Section 1 of E.O. 13886 replaces in its entirety section 1 of E.O. 13224, which had been amended by a number of prior Executive orders (E.O. 13224, as amended by all such authorities, is referred to herein as “amended E.O. 13224”), but does not amend the Annex to E.O. 13224, which was previously amended by E.O. 13268 of July 2, 2002, “Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Taliban and Amendment of Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001” (67 FR 44751, July 3, 2002) (“amended Annex to E.O. 13224”).
