The sanctions reshaping Washington’s Lebanon policy

The sanctions imposed by Washington on a number of Lebanese figures constituted a direct message on several fronts, but most notably to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, as they targeted two individuals considered among his closest associates: Ahmad Baalbaki, head of the security apparatus of the Amal Movement, and Ali Al-Safawi, the movement’s security official in southern Lebanon.

The sanctions also included Brigadier General Khattar Nasser al-Din, head of the National Security Directorate at Lebanon’s General Security agency, and Colonel Samer Hamadi, head of the Dahieh branch within Lebanese Army Military Intelligence. This is widely seen as a sharp warning to all Lebanese security and military institutions, and an unprecedented step in the history of U.S. relations with official Lebanese agencies, particularly the Lebanese Army.

While the sanctions also targeted members of Hezbollah in parliament, this move is not unprecedented. Washington had previously imposed sanctions on Hezbollah MPs Amin Sherri and Mohammad Raad in July 2019, and the U.S. position toward Hezbollah, which it designates as a terrorist organization, has long been clear.

These sanctions represent a direct blow to the role that Nabih Berri has played for more than four decades, based on the perception that he embodied the “moderate Shiite gateway” with whom at least minimal understandings could be reached, and the indispensable intermediary capable of restraining Hezbollah’s excesses. Washington had consistently avoided targeting him directly, while Western and Arab governments viewed him as an “absolute necessity for stability.”

The U.S. sanctions also carry direct messages to Berri, namely that his obstruction of the negotiation track between Lebanon and Israel, and his refusal to engage in it, would carry significant political costs. Washington considers the disruption of negotiations to be in service of Iranian influence at the expense of Lebanese national interests, particularly as any agreement could pave the way for an end to the war, Israel’s withdrawal from occupied territories, and the launch of a reconstruction process.

In the same context, the United States is sending clear warnings to Lebanese security and military institutions that any official or officer who prioritizes Hezbollah’s interests over those of the state and Lebanese legitimacy will face measures and sanctions similar to those imposed on the two officers. Circulating reports further suggest that these measures may not remain limited to the security and military sectors, but could eventually extend to judges and senior administrative officials within the public sector.

In conclusion, these sanctions constitute a significant step within a broader strategy aimed at reducing Hezbollah’s influence inside state institutions and opening the way for a process of “cleansing” Lebanon’s security, military, and administrative bodies of the party’s influence and control over key state structures.