Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab this week welcomed Chancellor Sajid Javid’s decision to freeze Hezbollah’s assets in the UK.
The Foreign Secretary said: “Welcome Sajid Javid’s decision… which further demonstrates the UK’s commitment to tackling terrorism. Right that we use the legal powers available to us to deny organisations like Hezbollah any opportunity to operate in the UK”.
Chancellor Sajid Javid underlined: “We will take whatever action is necessary to tackle terror groups that threaten our security. Hezballah itself makes no distinction between its military and political wings. Nor do we”.
Last week, HM Treasury designated Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist group and froze its assets in line with the UK Government’s decision last year under Home Secretary Sajid Javid to proscribe the organisation in full.
HM Treasury gave general notice of the final designation today, stating that “the group in its entirety is assessed to be concerned in terrorism and was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in March 2019”.
Hezbollah itself has “publicly denied a distinction between its military and political wings”, and the asset freeze will apply to “the Military Wing, the Jihad Council and all units reporting to it, including the External Security Organisation”, the statement read.
The UK previously only proscribed Hezbollah’s ‘military wing’, separating this from its so-called ‘political wing’.
The decision to designate Hezbollah as a terror organisation in full came after cross-party parliamentarians regularly called for the group to be banned, in particular raising their concerns about the waving of Hezbollah flags on the streets of London at the annual Al-Quds Day rally.
