Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, lead negotiator in talks with Washington, made the comments after President Trump vowed an “economic D-Day” against Iran.

© Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times

Courier network carried millions of dollars in cash to Lebanon on commercial flights, treasury department says

The US treasury department announced sanctions on Thursday against 10 people it says formed a courier network that smuggled hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah by carrying cash onboard commercial flights between Iran, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

The office of foreign assets control (OFAC) said the network allowed Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group,to obtain foreign currency and dodge sanctions outside the formal banking system. The treasury department linked the operation to a scheme once associated with Behnam Shahriyari, a now-deceased finance official for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force.

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© Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

© Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

© Photograph: NurPhoto/Getty Images

The Lebanese health ministry said children were among those killed. The Israeli prime minister’s office said Hezbollah had struck first, injuring three Israeli soldiers.

© Abbas Fakih/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images