TITLE: United States Office of Foreign Assets Control Adds Nine Individuals to Specially Designated Nationals List
BODY:
On May 21, 2026, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, updated its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List with counter-terrorism designations. OFAC added nine individuals to the SDN List and made updates to two existing entries.
OFAC designated nine individuals as specially designated global terrorists (SDGT) pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended by Executive Order 13886. Eight of the newly designated individuals—Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, Ahmad Asaad Baalbaki, Hassan Nizammeddine Fadlallah, Abdel-Mottaleb Mohamed Fanich, Samir 'Adnan Hamadi, Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan, Khattar Nasser Eldin, and Ali Ahmad Safawi—are linked to Hizballah and are subject to secondary sanctions pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations. All eight are Lebanese nationals. Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani, an Iranian national with ties to Lebanon, was also designated as SDGT and linked to Hizballah; Sheibani carries additional program tags related to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
OFAC also updated two existing SDN List entries. The entry for Ayadi Chafiq Bin Muhammad was modified to include additional identifying information, including nationality (Tunisia) and alternative nationality (Ireland), and was linked to Al Qa'ida. The entry for Lajnat Al Daawa Al Islamiyya (Islamic Call Committee), a Kuwait-based charity or nonprofit organization established in 1986, was similarly updated with additional identifying information and linked to Al Qa'ida.
Entities and individuals subject to OFAC sanctions are prohibited from engaging in transactions with U.S. persons and entities. Financial institutions and other parties must block assets and report transactions involving designated individuals and organisations.