Hezbollah leader: U.S. is using sanctions to pressure Lebanese allies

© Reuters/AZIZ TAHER A poster depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is seen in Naqoura

BEIRUT (Reuters) – The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Wednesday that U.S. sanctions imposed on ally Gebran Bassil, an influential Lebanese Christian politician, are aimed at exerting political pressure.

The United States last week blacklisted Bassil, the son-in-law of Lebanon’s president, on accusations of corruption and ties to the Iran-backed Shi’ite Hezbollah that Washington deems a terrorist group.

(Reporting by Ellen Francis and Laila Bassam; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous)