Schenker told reporters that further sanctions remained in play The assistant secretary said that the US will not hesitate to act to protect its personnel in Iraq WASHINGTON: The United States will continue to impose sanctions on Lebanese individuals allied with Hezbollah or engaged in corruption, a senior State Department official said on Thursday, despite an agreement between Israel and Lebanon to hold US-mediated talks on their maritime border dispute. David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters that further sanctions remained in play even after Israel and Lebanon announced earlier on Thursday they had agreed on a framework for the coming negotiations. The assistant secretary also said that the US will not hesitate to act to protect its personnel in Iraq, where it considers Iranian-backed militias that have attacked US targets to be the country"s "single biggest problem." "We can"t tolerate the threats to our people, our men and women serving abroad," he said.