— The US imposed sanctions on three business owners and their company for allegedly providing financial backing to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group, the Treasury said on Tuesday. Adel Diab, Ali Mohamad Daoun, Jihad Salem Alame, and their company, Dar Al Salam for Travel and Tourism provide the group with "access to material and financial support through the legitimate commercial sector to fund its acts of terrorism and attempts to destabilize Lebanon"s political institutions," read a Treasury statement. “This action comes at a time in which the Lebanese economy faces an unprecedented crisis and Hezbollah, as part of Lebanon’s government, is blocking economic reforms and inhibiting much needed change for the Lebanese people,” a statement from the Treasury Department said. "With this action, Treasury is disrupting businessmen who raise and launder funds for Hezbollah"s destabilizing activities while the Lebanese people face worsening economic and humanitarian crises," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said. "Hezbollah claims it supports the Lebanese people, but just like other corrupt actors in Lebanon that Treasury has designated, Hezbollah continues to profit from insulated business ventures and backdoor political deals, amassing wealth that the Lebanese people never see." “It is clear Hezbollah and its associates are more concerned with advancing their own interests and those of their patron, Iran, than the best interests of the Lebanese people,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. While the move was welcomed by current and former US officials, a cut in staff has negatively impacted the fight against Hezbollah, one former Treasury Department official said. Lebanon’s currency has collapsed, and an estimated 80 percent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty, according to the UN. Corruption and sectarianism have marred the country and led it to the current crisis, which Lebanese officials have yet to begin to rectify. The current government has not met in three months due to Hezbollah and its Shia ally, Amal Movement, blocking efforts to convene. — Agencies