At a quick glance, the limestone hills of southern Lebanon don’t seem like a good place to invest in real estate. Located near the country’s volatile border with Israel, this narrow slice of land has suffered through a 15-year civil war and several devastating battles with the Jewish state. But over the past few years, about a dozen new villas have sprouted along the narrow roads near the small town of Jouaiya, about 60 miles from Beirut. These opulent homes seem out of place amid the olive groves and fields of grazing sheep, dilapidated farms and dirt roads. A few have orange-tiled roofs, neoclassical columns and large courtyard walls, while others resemble gaudy Chinese pagodas.

Locals say the mansions, some still under construction, belong to middle- and high-level members of Hezbollah, the Shiite militant and political group. The United States and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization, and the European Union has given the same designation to the group’s armed wing. But over the past 30 years, Lebanon’s Party of God has come to dominate both politics and security in this nation of under 5 million, thanks in part to Iranian largesse, a wealthy foreign diaspora and some shrewd political gamesmanship. It’s also helped many Shiites, a historically impoverished sect in Lebanon, get rich.

But the good times may now be over for Hezbollah and its supporters. Iranian oil profits, which have lubricated the proxy group with hundreds of millions of dollars a year, appear to be drying up. Western sanctions, imposed on Tehran due to its nuclear program, coupled with falling oil prices, have emptied the coffers of the Islamic Republic. Crude now trades at less than $50 per barrel, down from more than $100 in June, due to lower global demand, oversupply in the Middle East and the rise of the American fracking industry. Meanwhile, Iran has reportedly seen its oil exports fall by 60 percent since 2011, and the country’s budget deficit has climbed to an astounding $9 billion.

The result, according to Hezbollah officials and observers close to the party, is that Iran is slashing the amount of money it’s giving to its Lebanese ally. “There are many members…who are now paid their wages much later,” says Khalil, a 40-something Hezbollah commander, who asked to use a pseudonym because he’s not authorized to speak to the media. “Some are getting less money than before.” (Read more about Hezbollah going broke HERE)

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