The United States has sanctioned a Lebanese network operating in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela for money laundering of drugs and Hezbollah financing

The United States announced Thursday specific sanctions against a Lebanese network accused of laundering money from "drug dealers" and contribute to the financing of the Hizbullah-backed Shiite movement, which is supported by Iran and considered a "terrorist" organization by Washington.

The Treasury Department has added to its blacklists the Lebanese Kbadem Chams, to the "Money Laundering Organization" of the latter and to Chams Exchange, a financial services company based in Chtaura, Lebanon.

This "international network" is accused wash the money of the drug in the world, "tens of millions of dollars every month" and to "facilitate the movement of money for the benefit of Hezbollah," according to a Treasury statement. It also operates in Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, the United States, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Venezuela.

These sanctions are part of the "unprecedented government campaign to prevent Hezbollah and its global terrorist affiliates from profiting from violencecorruption and drug trafficking, "said Sigal Mandelker, Under-Secretary of the Treasury.

He also pointed out that Chams Exchange is licensed by the Central Bank of Lebanon "Despite the old suspicions expressed by the US authorities." The Treasury is "determined to work with the Bank of Lebanon to block access to the Lebanese financial system to drug traffickers, money launderers and terrorist groups like Hezbollah".

The government of Donald Trump accuses Iran of destabilizing the Middle East and it has become his main reason for concern. On Monday, he designated the Iran Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as "foreign terrorist organization", in the middle of his government's campaign to increase pressure on the theocratic regime.

This is an unprecedented step because the State Department has never before The United States has included a government entity from another country on their list as IRGC, according to the official statement signed by Trump.

"This unprecedented step recognizes the reality of the fact that Iran is not just a state that sponsors terrorism., but also that the IRGC participates, funds and promotes terrorism as a state tool"Said the text.

This measure should strengthen Iran's isolation and make it clear that the United States will not tolerate Tehran's support for rebel groups that are destabilizing the Middle East.

"The IRGC is the primary means available to the Iranian government to lead and implement its global terror campaign ", says the official statement. "The measure clearly indicates the risks of doing business with the IRGC or its support. If you do, you will finance terrorism "he adds.

But this designation could have other implications, since the regime would have threatened retaliation if the IRGC was included in the list that also included Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Hezbollah and Hamas, among others.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard, or Pasdaran, appeared in 1979 after the Islamic revolution that deposed the Persian chah and He established the current theocratic regime led by the ayatollahs.

It was established as a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces in charge of precisely protecting the theocratic regime and the Islamic republic. Currently he has about 120,000 members badigned to land, naval and air units, and the Force Quds This is your operations division abroad. In addition, he controls the Basij militia, which adds another 90,000 members.

Its link to terrorism and its supposedly destabilizing role accused by the United States are related to the actions of the Qods Force, who leads Iran's operations in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, among other countries.

In this role, it is thought that the Quds force Supports and trains Hezbollah terrorist groups in Lebanon, as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the Houthi militias in Yemen and various Shiite groups in Syria and Afghanistan.