US imposes sanctions on Hezbollah commander, financiers

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government is sanctioning a Hezbollah commander and a number of other operatives and financiers linked to the Lebanon-based militant group.

The executive order, announced Thursday by the Treasury Department, is a joint action with Saudi Arabia aimed at "disrupting Hezbollah's worldwide commercial and financial infrastructure."

Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and a number of other individuals are named under the executive order. The State Department also added Tabatabai to its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, which "imposes sanctions on foreign persons determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism."

The State Department said Tabatabai commanded Hezbollah's special forces and has operated in Syria and possibly in Yemen "to provide training, materiel and personnel in support of its destabilizing regional activities."