US Seizes Websites Belonging to Sanctioned Terrorist Group

The U.S. seized two websites run by a U.S.-sanctioned foreign terrorist organization, the Justice Department said Sept. 2. The websites, Aletejahtv.com and Aletejahtv.org, belonged to Kata’ib Hizballah, “an Iran-backed terrorist group active in Iraq,” which the Office of Foreign Assets Control listed in 2009 as a Specially Designated National. The group used the websites to publish videos and articles designed to “further Kata’ib Hizballah’s agenda,” the Justice Department said. P. Lee Smith, a top official within the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement, said the group was using U.S.-based online networks “to promote Iran backed terrorist propaganda.”