Israel sanctions crypto wallets it says funded Hezbollah

Israel's Defence Ministry said it had imposed sanctions on 37 cryptocurrency wallets that it says were used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to transfer funds to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups.

The ministry said the wallets contained digital assets worth more than 24 million shekels (about $7 million) and were identified through a joint investigation by the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) and Israel's intelligence agencies, Caliber.Az reports, citing Israeli media.

According to the ministry, the cryptocurrency wallets formed part of a financial network allegedly operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to transfer money to regional groups backed by Iran, including Hezbollah. It said an analysis of the wallets indicated that tens of millions of dollars had been transferred through the network to various organisations over several years.

Israel said the sanctions are part of its broader efforts to disrupt the financing networks of Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said the measures were aimed at targeting the financial infrastructure supporting armed groups aligned with Iran.

"The campaign against Iran is conducted not only on the battlefield but also through efforts to disrupt the financial resources that support terrorism," Katz said in a statement. "We will continue to act against the funding networks of Iran and its proxies."

The head of Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, Yurai Matslaoui, said authorities would continue to identify and act against financial networks used to finance militant groups, including those operating through cryptocurrency.

By Aghakazim Guliyev