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BEIRUT, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) – With the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran's oil, transportation and banking sectors, Lebanese badysts expressed on Tuesday diverging views on the sanctions would influence Hezbollah and the Lebanese economy.
"I do not think that these sanctions will have a major impact on Hezbollah or the Lebanese economy," Hilal Kashan, chair of the Political Studies Department at the American University of Beirut, told Xinhua.
Khashan said that Hezbollah does not rely on Iranian financial badistance.
The U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker, announced a few months ago that Iran provides upwards of 700 million US dollars a year to Hezbollah.
Khashan believes that Hezbollah still gets some of its funds from Iran but it does succeed during the past years in identifying its own sources of funding.
He explained that there are many companies in Lebanon and abroad owned by Hezbollah but operating under independent names.
Khashan also noted that Hezbollah members use cash without bank accounts.
According to Kashan, U.S. sanctions against Iran will not have any impact on the Lebanese economy.
"The Americans understand that the Hezbollah is stronger than the Hezbollah and is stronger than the national army. he said.
Khashan does not think that Iran will be crippled because of these sanctions.
"The sanctions on Iran will have an impact on Iran's economy," he said, adding that the U.S. has exempted eight countries from the sanctions, some of which are major oil importers of Iran.
Lebanese Political Analyst Walid Mubarak reiterated Kashan's views by saying that Iran can maneuver around these sanctions because it has a past experience on how to deal with them.
According to Mubarak, Hezbollah has been dealing with such sanctions for a very long time.
"The political party is linking up with the Lebanese banking system," he said.
However, Mubarak said that Hezbollah may be impacted in an indirect way.
"Its support could be affected because the United States is putting sanctions on companies and it is in support of Hezbollah, which will impact the Lebanese economy," he added.
He explained that dealing with Hezbollah will have their funds frozen in banks.
"He would create a psychological environment that could lead to lack of confidence in the Lebanese banking system and possible capital outflows," he said.
Another impact, according to Mubarak, could be the social services offered by Hezbollah such as hospitalization and compensations paid for families of the martyrs.
Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs in Lebanon, said Hezbollah's support will be impacted by the new sanctions.
"The sanctions are saying that they can not deal with this issue," he said, adding that they are broadly scoping the sanctions, "said Hezbollah, who said:
Nader believes that the new sanctions will increase the level of economic risks in Lebanon.
"Lebanon needs to send positive feedback to the international community that will be implemented and will return to the country," he said.
However, he added that these penalties are going in the opposite direction of the level of trust in the Lebanese economy.
"We are already going through that, which is a direct consequence of our financial distress and economic downturn," he said.
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