Washington: The United States expanded its sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, identifying four individuals and two companies allegedly involved in cyber operations deemed harmful by the US government.
According to a statement from the US Treasury Department, these actors conducted cyber attacks, including spear phishing and malware, targeting numerous US companies and government entities.
The Treasury Department stated that the individuals and companies were affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC).
Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, emphasized that Iranian cyber actors persist in targeting US entities with coordinated efforts aimed at destabilizing critical infrastructure and causing harm to citizens. He reiterated the US government’s commitment to employing a comprehensive strategy to expose and disrupt such operations.
These recent sanctions are part of a broader effort by the United States and its allies to penalize Tehran for its support of anti-Israel groups in the Middle East and its military assistance to Russia in the conflict in Ukraine.
Last week, both the US and Britain imposed extensive sanctions on Iran’s military drone program in response to Iran’s significant attack on Israel earlier in the month. The attack was a retaliation for an airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1, attributed widely to Israel, which resulted in the death of seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.
In addition to the recent sanctions, the US fined a Thailand-based company $20 million for numerous potential violations of Iran sanctions, including processing nearly $300 million in wire transfers for a company jointly owned by Iran’s National Petroleum Company.
Alongside the new sanctions, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have indicted the four individuals involved in cyber activities targeting US entities, as stated by the Treasury Department.
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