WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation in a Wednesday vote to impose mandatory sanctions on financial institutions who knowingly handle financial transactions with the militant group Hezbollah.
"We need to send a clear message to companies getting tangled up with this terrorist group," top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel said on Wednesday evening. "And that message is: Walk away, or face the consequences of the United States of America."
The US Senate passed identical legislation last month to prevent Hezbollah from gaining access to international financial and other institutions.
Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based militant Shia group that has been designated a terrorist organization by the US government.
