Saudi Arabia classified the Lebanon-based Al-Qard Al-Hassan association as a terrorist entity, citing links to activities supporting Lebanon's Shi'ite group Hezbollah, state media reported on Wednesday.
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"The association works on managing funds for the terrorist organization [Hezbollah] and its financing, including support for military purposes," the state news agency said Wednesday, quoting a security statement.
The statement said that all assets belonging to the association inside the kingdom should be frozen and "it is prohibited to carry out any direct or indirect dealings with or for the benefit of the association."
In May, the United States had called on governments worldwide to take action against the Iranian-backed terrorist group. The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on seven Lebanese nationals it said were connected to the group and its financial firm, Al-Qard Al-Hassan.
Saudi Arabia has shunned Lebanon for years because of Hezbollah's strong influence in Lebanese state affairs, which it also says has sent fighters to Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition fights another Iran-aligned group, the Houthi movement.
Iran and Saudi Arabia, the leading Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have been rivals for years and cut diplomatic ties in 2016.
Also on Wednesday, Kosovo sanctioned seven local businessmen and a company for links with Hezbollah.
The decision was in line with sanctions the US imposed on the group, which is Iran's largest proxy in the Middle East.
A statement said that seven people and the AID Properties company had their assets frozen. The seven can neither leave the country nor receive money from other individuals or companies from Kosovo.
Neither Lebanon nor Palestine recognize Kosovo's 2008 independence.
Kosovo established diplomatic ties with Israel earlier this year following a Kosovo-Serbia summit held at the White House in Sept. 2020. A month later it opened its embassy in Jerusalem, the first European country and a Muslim-majority one to do that, following the US and Guatemala. Most international embassies are in Tel Aviv.
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