Dec. 31 (UPI) — The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced sanctions against organizations in Iran and Russia for attempting to influence U.S. elections during the last general election cycle.
The Treasury accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Moscow affiliate of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate of supporting affiliates that sought to stoke socio-political tensions to influence domestic elections. These subordinate and proxy groups spread disinformation and undermine confidence in democratic institutions.
The Treasury Department said Iran used social engineering and other efforts to gain access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both parties. The activities included theft and disclosure of private information intended to influence the electoral process.
U.S. officials said outlets like RT, RaHDit, RRN and other operators have helped the Kremlin hide their influence and involvement, which has expanded into vast assortments of fake websites, online personas and front organizations trying to give the appearance of independent news and information sources.
“The governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through a targeted disinformation campaign,” Bradley Smith, the Treasury’s acting under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
The United States specifically targeted Iran’s Cognitive Design Production Center, an affiliate of the IRGC, for activities to destabilize U.S. elections and campaigns.
The Treasury targeted Russia’s Center for Geopolitical Expertise for sanctions along with its director, Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin, for activities in Russia. The company was founded by Aleksandr Dugin, who had previously been sanctioned by the United States.
In August, the Trump campaign confirmed that hackers successfully exposed internal documents from its campaign. The Democrats said attempts were made to hack their campaign computer records but the cybercriminals were not successful.
