The United States says Iranian and Russian government affiliates worked to sow division during the 2024 elections.
The United States announced new sanctions targeting Russia and Iran over their attempts to interfere in the 2024 election.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement Tuesday that agencies affiliated with Russia’s Military Intelligence Service (GRU) and agencies affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) worked to escalate tensions in the country.
“The Iranian and Russian governments have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” Bradley Smith, Acting Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.
“America will remain vigilant against enemies who undermine our democracy.”
President-elect Donald Trump won the final victory in the presidential election last November. His right-wing party, the Republican Party, also controls the House of Representatives and the Senate, which make up the U.S. Congress.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that the Moscow-based Center of Expertise on Geopolitics (CGE) helped create misleading images and spread “baseless accusations regarding the 2024 vice presidential candidate,” without providing additional details. He claimed that he gave it to him.
Allegations of election meddling by countries like Russia have been a political flashpoint for years, but critics argue their influence has been exaggerated.
Iranian and Russian officials have yet to respond to Tuesday’s claims but have previously denied similar claims.
“Today’s sanctions address numerous previous U.S. government actions that have disrupted Iran’s efforts to undermine trust in our democratic institutions, Russia’s global malign influence campaign, and illicit cyber activities,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press release Tuesday. “It’s based on,” he said.
The statement said CGE and its director Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin were designated as targets of sanctions, along with the IRGC’s affiliate, the Center for Cognitive Design and Production (CPDC).
Such sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets that groups and individuals may have and prevent U.S.-based companies from doing business with them.
