WASHINGTON — The US Treasury Department on Tuesday issued a fresh round of sanctions aimed at Hezbollah’s coordination with Iran and its exploitation of the informal financial sector in Lebanon.

The targets included Jood SARL, a gold exchange company that Treasury said converts the Lebanese militant group’s gold reserves into usable funds. Jood operates under the supervision of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a previously sanctioned Hezbollah-controlled financial institution that claims to be a nonprofit organization. AQAH has allegedly established a chain of companies to trade gold in Lebanon and potentially overseas to ensure Hezbollah’s “continued access to cash flow,” the department said in a news release.

Treasury also sanctioned what it described as an international procurement and commodities shipping network run by Hezbollah financiers across the region, including in Iran. It said the network exported millions of dollars worth of fertilizer from Iran to Turkey by falsely claiming the cargo originated in Oman. The Iranian cargo was loaded onto a vessel that is part of a fleet managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force and a Hezbollah-affiliated Syrian businessman. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions, which come as the United States and Iran negotiate over a possible nuclear deal, were part of the Trump administration’s effort to “give Lebanon a chance to be peaceful and prosperous again.” The administration is seeking a deal that covers Iran's missile and nuclear activity as well as addresses its support for regional proxies including Hezbollah. Tehran has demanded the talks be limited to its nuclear program.