Saudi Arabia blacklists Hezbollah leaders, freezes assets

Saudi Arabia has imposed sanctions on 12 alleged Hezbollah leaders, as well as economic organizations linked to the Lebanese Shiite group, accusing them of “spreading chaos” in the Middle East, the Saudi interior ministry said Thursday.

“Hezbollah is spreading chaos and instability, launching terrorist attacks and practicing criminal and illegal activities around the world,” said a official statement.

Hezbollah is backed by Shiite Iran, which has been fighting a proxy war with Sunni Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to classify activists, leaders and entities belonging to Hezbollah, and impose sanctions on them as a result of the classification. The Kingdom will continue to fight against terrorist activities of Hezbollah.”

The ministry published a list of 12 people it claims have been financing Hezbollah and said the kingdom had frozen their Saudi Arabian assets.

In May, Riyadh imprisoned two people it claimed were Hezbollah leaders, accusing them of “interference” in Yemen’s affairs. Saudi Arabia has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen since March, aimed at weakening the Iranian backed Houthi separatists.

Sunni-run Saudi Arabia has traditionally strained relations with its regional Shiite rivals.

In March 2014, Saudi Arabia declared Hezbollah and the Islamic State terror groups, later urging the United Nations to do so as well.

The crisis in Syria has worsened tensions with Iran and Hezbollah backing the Assad regime, while Saudi Arabia supports the rebels.

More than 55 Iranian soldiers have been killed in Syria, fighting on behalf of President Bashar Assad’s regime, according to recent estimates from Israel’s intelligence community.

The Hezbollah death toll in Syria is estimated at between 1,000 and 2,000.

AFP contributed to this report.