ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Friday announced sanctions on seven Iranians it accused of election interference. Three Iranian operatives are also facing criminal charges in connection with hacking Donald Trump’s election campaign.
“Iranian state-sponsored actors undertook a variety of malicious cyber activities, such as hack-and-leak operations and spear-phishing, in an attempt to undermine confidence in the United States’ election processes and institutions and to interfere with political campaigns,” the US Treasury said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
One of the men sanctioned is Masoud Jalili. The Treasury said he is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who “compromised several accounts of officials and advisors to a 2024 presidential campaign and leaked stolen data to members of the media and other persons for the purpose of influencing the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”
Jalili is one of three Iranian operatives facing criminal charges in the US, accused of hacking Trump’s campaign and sending the information to media organizations. Major news outlets decided not to publish the leaked information.
The US has offered $10 million for information on Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and Yaser Balaghi - all members of the IRGC.
Also slapped with sanctions are six employees of the Iranian cybersecurity company Emennet Pasargad, which the US Treasury accused of trying to interfere in the 2020 election.
Tehran has not immediately commented on the new sanctions but the foreign ministry on Thursday denied it was involved in plots to assassinate Trump.
