The U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned entities in Iran and Russia over interference in the 2024 General Election.
“Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a subordinate organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and a Moscow-based affiliate organization of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and its director pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13848, the U.S. election interference authority,” the Treasury said on December 31.
“As affiliates of the IRGC and GRU, these actors aimed to stoke socio-political tensions and influence the U.S. electorate during the 2024 U.S. election.”
Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said in a statement, “The Governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns. The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy.”
“The Kremlin has increasingly adapted its efforts to hide its involvement by developing a vast ecosystem of Russian proxy websites, fake online personas, and front organizations that give the false appearance of being independent news sources unconnected to the Russian state,” the Treasury Department said. The statement explained that the CRU “provided CGE [Center for Geopolitical Expertise] and a network of U.S.-based facilitators with financial support to: build and maintain its AI-support server; maintain a network of at least 100 websites used in its disinformation operations; and contribute to the rent cost of the apartment where the server is housed.”
In August, several government agencies released a joint statement declaring that Iran sought to “stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.”
“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting presidential campaigns,” the statement added.
