Germany Preparing Blanket Ban for Iran-Backed Hezbollah

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is preparing to issue a ban on Hezbollah that would extend restrictions on the Iran-backed group to cover all its activities in Germany.

Ministries are still working on a so-called “activity ban,” according to a government official, who confirmed an earlier report in Der Spiegel magazine and asked not to be identified by name.

The measure could be introduced next week, Spiegel said on its website. In the European Union, an existing ban is limited to Hezbollah’s military wing.

Hezbollah is among political parties in Lebanon unable to reach a deal on the shape of a new government, with the country gripped by a deepening crisis that’s paralyzed the economy.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in September that his country had asked Germany to help rein in Hezbollah militants.

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