The funding of Hezbollah comes from Lebanese business groups, private persons, businessmen, the Lebanese diaspora involved in African diamond exploration, other Islamic groups and countries, and the taxes paid by the Shia Lebanese. Hezbollah says that the main source of its income comes from its own investment portfolios and donations by Muslims.
Western sources maintain that Hezbollah receives most of its financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from the Islamic Republic of Iran and Ba'athist Syria.Levitt, Matthew. "Hezbollah Finances – Funding the Party of God." The Washington Institute. February 2005. 1 February 2015. Iran is said to have given $400 million between 1983 and 1989 through donation. The situation changed due to economic problems, but in 2013 Iran still funded humanitarian efforts carried on by Hezbollah. According to reports released in February 2010, Hezbollah received $400 million from Iran. In 2011, Iran earmarked $7 million to Hezbollah's activities in Latin America. Hezbollah also receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from Iran. Iranian support to Hezbollah has varied over the years,Washington Post, December 20, 2004 Lebanese Wary of a Rising Hezbollah Accessed August 8, 2006CNN, November 7, 2001 Sources: Terrorists find haven in South America Accessed August 17, 2006 but as of 2018 US officials estimate Iran transfers $700 million annually.Iran pays Hezbollah $700 million a year, US official says, The National, 5 June 2018Hezbollah paying the price of Iranian obstinance, YNET, 27 May 2019
Hezbollah has relied also on funding from the Shi'ite Lebanese Diaspora in West Africa, the United States and, most importantly, the Triple Frontier, or tri-border area, along the junction of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.Labaki, Boutros. "The Role of Transnational Communmities in Fostering Development in Countries of Origin." United Nations. 12 May 2006: 15–16. 31 July 2010. U.S. law enforcement officials have identified an illegal multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling fund raising operation and a drug smuggling operation. However, Nasrallah has repeatedly denied any links between the South American drug trade and Hezbollah, calling such accusations "propaganda" and attempts "to damage the image of Hezbollah".
International sanctions As at October 2019, Hezbollah is subject to sanctions from a number of countries and international organisations that seek to stop funding to designated terrorist organisations, that includes Hezbollah. Banks, including Lebanese banks, are required to comply with these sanctions. Banks that deal with parties that provide funds for Hezbollah (or other terrorist organisation) are liable to be barred from dealing in dollars, besides other sanctions.
The countries that ban transfers of funds to Hezbollah include: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (partly), and the United States. Germany and the European Union outlawed only Hezbollah's military wing, and work with Hezbollah's political wing and allow it to raise funds in Europe.
The United States has accused members of the Venezuelan government of providing financial aid to Hezbollah. According to the testimony of a former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger Noriega, Hugo Chávez's government gave "indispensable support" to Iran and Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere. In an article by the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, Noriega explained how two witnesses alleged that Ghazi Atef Nassereddine, a Venezuelan diplomat in Syria, was an operative of Hezbollah who used Venezuelan entities to launder money for Hezbollah with President Nicolás Maduro's personal approval.
In January 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Hezbollah-affiliated financial facilitator Adnan Ayad, as well as members of an international network of facilitators and companies connected to him and to Adel Diab - Dyad's business partner. Dyad - a fellow Hezbollah financier who was also added by the OFAC to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.
In August 2025 it was reported that the US deployed three Aegis-guided missile destroyers, along with P‑8 reconnaissance aircraft and at least one attack submarine, near Venezuela in order to fight the drug cartels and smuggling.
On 23 September 2025 it was reported that the US offer a reward of $10 million to whoever provides information about the financial networks of Hezbollah. This comes as another step to interfere with the organization funding.
On 20 August 2026, the US imposed further sanctions on Hezbollah, including redesignating the group for what the U.S. Treasury Department described as its “service to the Iranian regime under the command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)”. Ten individuals whom the U.S. accused of operating a network that smuggled cash to Hezbollah, also through couriers travelling between Iran, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon were also targeted. According to the U.S. Treasury, the network had moved hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah and helped it get foreign currency outside the banking system.
Money laundering
Hezbollah has been accused of engaging in various illegal activities for the purpose of securing funds for its own activities. For example, Matthew Levitt told a committee of the US Senate that Hezbollah engages in a "wide variety of criminal enterprises" worldwide in order to raise funds.Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate Testimony of Dr. Matthew Levitt Accessed August 8, 2006 (archived from the original on 2005-05-25) The U.S. Treasury Department has accused Hezbollah of raising funds by counterfeiting U.S. currency.US Treasury Department, June 10, 2004 Treasury Designates Islamic Extremist, Two Companies Supporting Hizballah in Tri-Border Area Accessed 2006-07-26 In 2008, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration launched Project Cassandra to track and undercut fundraising via illicit drugs.
Hezbollah has categorically denied all allegations of drug trafficking, illegal banking and money laundering. In a statement in 2011, the party said "The United States' allegations that Hezbollah is funding its activities illegitimately is merely another attempt to tarnish the image of the resistance in Lebanon ... after the failure and exposure of U.S. intelligence operations in our country".
In a 2012 speech, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said "Time and again they speak about the drug networks in Latin America and Europe and they say Hezbollah is financing these activities. This is forbidden for us." Al-Akhbar Newspaper argued that there is no evidence supporting the claim of Hezbollah's drug trafficking because no court have been provided evidence for that claim.
In October 2023, Dutch media outlet RTL Nieuws reported findings which estimated that Hezbollah had received approximately US$3.7 million in cryptocurrency between mid-2021 and October 2023. The same investigation attributed around $41 million in crypto to Hamas and nearly $98 million to Palestinian Islamic Jihad during the same period.Hamas ontving tientallen miljoenen aan cryptovaluta, RTL Nieuws, October 2023 (in Dutch).
Asia and Middle East In the Golden Triangle region of South-East Asia, Hezbollah generates funding with the heroin trade and reportedly the smuggling of rare or precious items or materials. Mohammed Raad, at one time leader of Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, said money from Iran came only through private charities to be used for health care, education and the support of war widows. Hezbollah's main sources of income, he said, are the party's investment portfolios and wealthy Shiites.
Lebanon In July 2014, The Daily Beast reported that Hezbollah owns marijuana plantations and produces Hashish in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, and exports the produce to countries such as Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Prior to the Syrian civil war, the Lebanese Army patrolled the fields, though the Lebanese government has since adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards illegal drug production. According to Arab media reports, Hezbollah has a number of Lebanese front companies that deal in counterfeit medicine.
Hezbollah is known to be involved in the Cocaine trade, and the Hashish trade. Hezbollah uses the drug trade as well as other "criminal enterprises" to fund its military excursions in Lebanon, while some of their funds go to education and health assistance for the poor.
In September 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Lebanese ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Yusuf Finyanus, due to their "material support to Hezbollah" and other corruption charges. It also sanctioned Lebanon-based Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction for being owned, controlled, or directed by Hezbollah, in addition to Hezbollah Executive Council official Sultan Khalifah Asaad.
According to a recent report from March 2026 analyzing Hezbollah's funding sources, since it entered the war with Israel in 2023, it is suffering from a deep financial crisis. This is due to its weakened military's strength, that affects its funding networks and disrupted its smuggling routes and regional support. The fall of the Assad regime and damage to revenues from Captagon trade have reduced its resources, leaving the group struggling. This forced Hezbollah to turn to alternative methods such as illegal online gambling. These platforms provide income and sophisticated means of money laundering, enabling money from unclear sources to be cycled as legitimate winnings. As a result, online gambling has become a central part of Hezbollah's emerging financial strategy in response to mounting economic strain.
Israel's efforts against Hezbollah have focused on its military assets as well as its finances, with an emphasis on the estimated directed from Iran each year through intermediaries that accounted for most of Hezbollah's annual operating budget. Some of the earliest Israeli military efforts during the 2026 Lebanon war in March 2026 targeted the organization's supply of gold and foreign currency, as well as branches of the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association, a non-profit financial institution that has been described as being "Hezbollah's bank in Lebanon". Money changing offices and gas stations were also struck, all as part of an effort to squeeze the organization's sources of funding. To bypass constraints set limiting the access of Al-Qard Al-Hasan to the formal banking network, the hawala system had been used to send in Iranian funds in 2025 via a network of broker transfers that passed through Iraq, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, though sanctions have been placed on these brokers by the United States Department of the Treasury.Ward, Euan; Schmitt, Eric; Bergman, Ronen; and Saad, Hwaida. "Inside the War on Hezbollah’s Finances Israel and the United States aren’t just targeting the Lebanese militant group’s weapons. They’re going after its money.", The New York Times, 9 August 2026. Accessed 24 August 2026.
Europe On January 9, 2010, Der Spiegel reported that drug dealers, on behalf of Hezbollah, transfer millions to Lebanese groups via European narcotics transactions.
In November 2018, following an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) called “Operation Cedar”, Lebanese nationals, accused of having links to Hezbollah went on trial for laundering millions of euros in South American drug money to Europe and Lebanon.“Hezbollah on Trial in Europe”, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, November 19, 2018