The sanctions have been imposed on a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Russia-linked military intelligence affiliate, aimed at curbing their attempts to stir socio-political unrest and interfere with the 2024 US election.
The Treasury also accused the Russian entity of using AI tools to generate disinformation, which was then spread across a large network of fake news sites. These efforts included creating baseless accusations about a 2024 vice-presidential candidate, The Washington Post reported.
The sanctions were aimed at smaller entities, so they are unlikely to have a significant economic impact on either country. Nonetheless, they contribute to the ongoing deterioration of relations between Russia and Iran.
“The Governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” Bradley Smith, Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement, adding, “The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy.”
The Treasury imposed sanctions on the Center for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE), a Moscow-based group funded by Aleksandr Dugin. CGE had previously been sanctioned in 2015.
It accused the group of collaborating with Russia’s military intelligence service, which conducts sabotage, political interference, and cyberwarfare operations against the West.
In its statement, the Treasury said the intelligence service both directed and provided financial support to the center to influence the 2024 presidential election. With that support, Treasury said, the center maintained a network of “at least 100 websites” for its “disinformation operations,” through which it pushed false information.
“CGE and its personnel used generative AI tools to quickly create disinformation that would be distributed across a massive network of websites designed to imitate legitimate news outlets to create false corroboration between the stories, as well as to obfuscate their Russian origin,” the Treasury statement added.
The sanctions also targeted Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, over its “influence operations.”
With ANI inputs
