Hezbollah’s financing file has entered a new circle of pressure, after an Israeli report spoke of increasing difficulties facing the party in obtaining funds from Iran, in light of the economic crisis that Tehran is suffering from and the tightening of US sanctions on it, which opens the door to questions about the alternatives that the party may resort to to maintain its sources of funding.
The Israeli newspaper “Maariv” reported that Hezbollah requested additional financial support from Iran, but has not yet received the amounts it requested, noting that Tehran itself is facing severe financial and economic pressures that limit its ability to continue funding at previous levels.
According to the newspaper, the increasing pressure on the party’s traditional funding sources, primarily Iranian support, may push it to rely more on alternative funding channels outside the traditional financial system.
In this context, Danny Citrinovic, a researcher in the Iran program at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies and a former intelligence officer, said that the decline in access to Iranian financing may push the party to expand its reliance on parallel financial networks and informal means of transfer.
Citrinovic pointed out that these channels may include smuggling operations, money transfer networks outside the banking system, and the use of liquidable commodities such as gold, in addition to expanding reliance on cryptocurrencies and alternative financing channels.
He also pointed out that the networks of supporters and companies associated with the party abroad may become more important if the regularity of funding coming from Tehran declines.
According to the report, the difficulty in obtaining cash from Iran may reflect actual financial pressure on the party, but at the same time it may push it to reshape its financing system to become more decentralized and less dependent on a single source.
The report also referred to previous assessments by the US Treasury Department that talked about the party’s reliance on networks of supporters, fake companies, and informal financing channels in a number of countries, within a financial system extending outside Lebanon.
Citrinovic believes that pressure on Iran does not necessarily lead to an immediate halt to the party’s funding, but rather may change the nature of the tools used to obtain funds, especially if direct Iranian support declines or becomes less regular.
These data come at a time when Iran is facing increasing economic pressure under the weight of US sanctions and the policy of “economic strangulation,” which has been reflected in its ability to finance its regional allies at previous levels, according to the Israeli report.
The information contained in “Maariv” remains within the framework of Israeli estimates and reports, and nothing has been issued by Hezbollah or the Iranian authorities independently confirming Tehran’s refusal to fund the party or the extent of the financial pressures it faces.
