WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - The US Treasury Department on Tuesday (July 9) imposed sanctions on three top Hezbollah officials for what it calls a "malign agenda" to provide support to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The department added Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra'd, who are members of Lebanon's Parliament, and Wafiq Safa, a security official, "for acting for or on behalf" of Hezbollah, according to the statement.

Ra'd, the statement said, heads Hezbollah's Parliamentary Council, while Safa heads the group's security apparatus and is a key contact for Lebanese security forces.

"Hezbollah uses its operatives in Lebanon's Parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group's financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran's malign activities," Sigal Mandelker, Treasury's top sanctions official, said in the statement.

Hezbollah was formed in Lebanon in the early 1980s partly in reaction to Israel's occupation of the country's south. Even as it undertakes military and terrorist attacks outside Lebanon, including Syria, inside the nation it remains a major political player.

The Treasury has targeted a total of 50 individuals and entities affiliated with Hezbollah since 2017, it said, citing the group's ability to threaten the economic stability and security of Lebanon and the Middle East more broadly.

"Today's designations also underscore that there is no distinction between Hizballah's political and violent activities," the statement said, using an alternate spelling for the group.

The US "will continue to support efforts of the Lebanese government to protect its institutions from exploitation by Iran and its terrorist proxies, and to secure a more peaceful and prosperous future for Lebanon."