US targets senior Hezbollah operative with sanctions

WASHINGTON – The United States is targeting a senior operative of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group with sanctions as part of its pressure campaign against Tehran. The government is also issuing a $7 million reward for information leading to the capture of the operative, Salman Rauf Salman.

The action by the Treasury Department falls on the 25th anniversary of an attack Salman is said to have co-ordinated on a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The attack killed 85 people and wounded hundreds of others. The Treasury Department’s action freezes all assets that Salman has within U.S. jurisdiction. Treasury says Salman is also accused of planning other terror attacks abroad from a base in Lebanon.

On Thursday, Argentina’s government branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization and froze its assets.