BEIRUT — An investigation by the Kuwaiti State Security Bureau led to the arrest Monday of eight Kuwaiti citizens accused of “transferring enormous sums” to finance Iran-backed and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas reports, adding that additional arrest warrants to be issued today,

Here’s what we know:

    • The eight alleged financiers, one of whom is the brother of a former member of the Kuwaiti parliament, denied the charges, claiming that the funds transferred were to destined for a charity that supports Lebanese orphans

    • The “Hezbollah cell” was dismantled last Thursday after Kuwait’s interior minister was informed about it by a “friendly Gulf state,” Kuwaiti daily al-Siyassa reports. The suspects are also accused of money laundering and recruiting fighters for Hezbollah’s militia operations in Syria and Yemen

    • Relations between Lebanon and Kuwait and several other Gulf states are fractured following a diplomatic rift caused by comments made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi criticizing Saudia Arabia’s intervention in the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has since recalled its ambassador from Lebanon, expelled Lebanon’s envoy to Riyadh and banned all Lebanese imports. Kuwait, alongside Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, has also cut diplomatic ties with Lebanon following the Kurdahi remarks.

    • The Kuwaiti government accused Hezbollah and Iran of having ties to 21 Kuwaiti citizens forming the “Abdali Cell,” which was convicted on charges of “planning attacks” in 2017.

    • The US Department of the Treasury had imposed sanctions last September on two Kuwaiti citizens in an effort to stop the flow of funds to Hezbollah.