Deir Qanoun en Nahr, Tyre, South Governorate, Lebanon
Reg. ID
000004334212, National ID No.
Function
Executive
Official reason
Issa Hussein Kassir (Kassir) is a senior AQAH official who oversees the department responsible for supplying equipment to AQAH branches and handling procurement and logistics. In this capacity, Kassir opened bank accounts in the formal financial system to conduct business activities for AQAH. Kassir was documented sending nearly a million dollars to OFAC-designated AQAH shadow bankers Yazbeck, Gharib, and Othman between 2007 and 2019, prior to OFAC’s designation of Jammal Trust Bank SAL (JTB) in 2019. JTB was designated for facilitating the banking activities of U.S.-designated entities openly affiliated with Hizballah, like AQAH and the Martyrs Foundation. Jamil, Kassir, Fawaz, Bezz, Karnib, Krisht, and Badir are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, AQAH.
Sender
US
Additional info
Subject to Secondary Sanctions Pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations
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”).
