The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has transferred more than $1 billion to Hezbollah in Lebanon during the first 10 months of 2025, according to recent U.S. Treasury Department disclosures, even as the Iranian government cuts vital subsidies for ordinary citizens at home.
The Quds Force, the overseas branch of the IRGC, has sent the money to the Lebanese terror group despite international sanctions designed to prevent such transfers.
The payments amount to more than $100 million per month.
The transfers come as Iran’s economy faces severe challenges, including sanctions, recession, budget deficits, and high inflation.
The Iranian government has cut cash subsidies to millions of citizens and scaled back support for medicine and basic goods, all while citing “insufficient financial resources.”
The Treasury Department said the $1 billion is only part of Tehran’s support for Hezbollah.
Iran also provides weapons, training, logistical support, and political backing to the group, officials said.
Washington sees cutting off Iran’s financial pipeline to Hezbollah as central to any effort to weaken the group’s grip on power in the region.
The U.S. has urged Lebanon’s government to strengthen controls over currency exchange offices, financial institutions, and cash transfers from Iran.
Washington considers disrupting Iran's financial pipeline to Hezbollah a key strategy for reducing the group's power in the region.
These include suitcase cash, gold bars, cryptocurrency wallets, and transfers outside the formal banking system through licensed and unlicensed exchange offices.
Iran relies on a “shadow financial system” - opaque channels beyond official international oversight - to quietly move money to Lebanon.
The system uses third countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Iraq, as financial corridors.
Money moves through exchange offices and intermediary companies registered in those countries before reaching Hezbollah.
Iran uses multiple layers, including shell companies, fake commercial invoices, and intermediary accounts, to obscure the true origins and destinations of its transactions.
Lebanon’s weak regulatory oversight, Hezbollah’s influence in government agencies, and the prevalence of unlicensed financial operations enable the money transfers.
The country’s largely cash-based economy facilitates money laundering operations.
“Lebanon has an opportunity to be free, prosperous, and secure - but that can only happen if Hizballah is fully disarmed and cut off from Iran’s funding and control,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley. “We will work with our Lebanese partners to create a resilient economy that puts the interests of all Lebanese citizens front and center.”
Al-Qarz al-Hassan serves as one of Hezbollah’s primary financial institutions.
The organization, described as Hezbollah’s de facto central bank, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2007.
Regional media reports and Lebanese sources indicate that various Iranian government entities maintain or have maintained accounts at Al-Qarz al-Hassan.
These include the Martyrs Foundation and Veterans Affairs, the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, Mahan Airlines, Islamic Republic Radio and Television, and Press TV officials, according to the reports.
The accounts reportedly facilitate fund transfers from Iran to Hezbollah and other regional allies, according to Lebanese sources cited in regional news reports.
Hezbollah representatives also generate income through direct sales of Iranian oil, gas, and petrochemical products. Proceeds from these sales are transferred to Lebanon.
The U.S. sanctioned Jafar Mohammad Qasir and Ali Qasir in mid-2025 for their roles in these operations. Jafar Mohammad Qasir is the son of a former head of Hezbollah’s financial team.
Ali Qasir is his nephew. Both were involved in efforts to recover the tanker Arman 114, which carried Iranian crude oil and was seized by Indonesia.
Hezbollah employs approximately 40,000 full-time personnel, according to Tom Barrack, the U.S. Special Envoy in Turkey. Each receives up to $2,200 monthly in salary.
By comparison, Lebanon’s official army has 60,000 soldiers who earn approximately $275 per month - just 12 per cent of Hezbollah salaries, Barrack said.
Monthly salary costs for Hezbollah personnel total approximately $88 million, based on these figures. Hezbollah leaders have claimed to have 100,000 fighters.
Beyond active members, families of killed Hezbollah fighters receive stipends for rent and living expenses.
Hezbollah possesses rockets, missiles, anti-tank systems, drones, and precision-guided munitions. This arsenal has led analysts to describe Hezbollah as the most powerful non-state paramilitary group in the Middle East.
Despite international sanctions and Iran’s domestic economic troubles, Tehran continues to provide substantial financial and military resources to Hezbollah, maintaining its position as a key backer of the group.
The Iranian government’s foreign expenditures contrast sharply with its domestic austerity measures.
President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration has cut monthly subsidies to more than 7 million Iranians, saving $19 million per month.
The government plans to remove subsidies for 18 million more people by year’s end, targeting monthly savings of $47 million, according to Iranian officials.
Iran’s economy faces mounting pressure from sanctions, war-related expenses, and recession.
Inflation has accelerated, the national currency has declined in value, and foreign currency reserves have dwindled.
The government attributes these cuts to budget constraints and limited foreign currency resources.
The $100 million in monthly transfers to Hezbollah dwarfs the $19 million saved through subsidy cuts to Iranian citizens.
In December 2024, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem announced that Iran paid $77 million to Lebanese families affected by the war with Israel.
Hezbollah distributed $8,000 lump-sum payments to families whose homes were destroyed in the conflict.
Families in Beirut and its suburbs received $6,000 for one year’s rent. Residents outside the capital received $4,000 until they could return home.
Qassem confirmed Iran financed these payments. By December 2024, 233,500 Lebanese families had registered to receive the cash assistance from Iran’s Quds Force, according to Reuters.
Some registered families received additional rental assistance and gifts worth $300 to $400.
Iranian citizens affected by the Iran-Israel war remain without compensation more than five months after the war ended.
Some families continue living in hotels under substandard conditions, according to Iranian media reports.
No payments have been made to Iranian citizens whose vehicles or property were damaged by missiles or shrapnel.
Tehran’s crisis management office announced that funding for compensation had been secured, but did not specify when payments would begin.
Hezbollah’s financial capacity and weapons stockpile allow it to maintain significant influence in Lebanon and the broader Middle East, analysts say. The group’s military capabilities exceed those of Lebanon’s official armed forces.
Interested in writing for IranWire?
Share your stories.
comments