Lebanon's Stories Coffee chain denies being under US sanctions

BEIRUT — In a phone call with L'Orient Today on Friday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon denied rumors that a U.S. Treasury delegation visiting Lebanon last week had asked authorities to close the company Stories Coffee on the grounds that it funds Hezbollah.The coffee shop's CEO and founder, Tarek Nasser, also denied rumors that his company was subject to U.S. sanctions, reassuring the shop's customers and staff in a statement released on Friday. The company is indeed currently not included in the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control list of sanctioned companies.U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, John Hurley, accompanied by a delegation that specializes in sanctions and counterterrorism, visited Lebanon late last week to discuss ways to cut off...