‘Sought to Divide the American People’: U.S. Sanctions Iranian and Russian Entities Pushing Disinformation

Latest Developments

Russia and Iran Conducted Targeted Disinformation Campaigns: The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on two entities from Iran and Russia on December 31 for their attempts to influence the 2024 U.S. election by maliciously spreading disinformation online. “The governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in the statement.
Moscow-Based Group Created Massive Network of Fake Websites: The Treasury sanctioned the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE) and its director, Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin. Affiliated with Russia’s GRU foreign intelligence agency, CGE personnel work directly with a GRU unit to conduct “political interference operations and cyber warfare targeting the West.” The group used Generative AI to quickly create and disseminate disinformation about U.S. candidates and other hot-button issues through a “massive network of websites designed to imitate legitimate news outlets” in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
Iran’s ‘Increasingly Aggressive’ 2024 Activities: The Treasury also sanctioned the Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The previously little-known agency is accused by the Treasury of planning to “influence operations designed to incite socio-political tensions among the U.S. electorate … on behalf of the IRGC” since at least 2023. In August, the Office of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said that they had observed “increasingly aggressive Iranian activity” during the 2024 election cycle, which included the use of social engineering methods such as phishing to infiltrate the campaigns of both parties. One such effort in June infiltrated the email of Roger Stone, a close ally of incoming President Donald Trump, with the hackers obtaining internal documents that were sent to Trump’s opponents and multiple media outlets.

FDD Expert Response

“These sanctions on Russian and Iranian entities are absolutely correct. Russia, Iran, and China all attempted to interfere with the U.S. elections in 2024, as they have in previous elections going back to at least 2016. To deter future bad behavior, the United States has to impose costs on malicious actors now. The Treasury Department should also consider sanctions on senior decision-makers in Russia and Iran who authorized and facilitated this illegal behavior.” — RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Senior Fellow and Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation

“Sanctioning influence operators sends a strong message, but it likely won’t stem the tide of foreign malign influence. Ultimately, the organizations and individuals sanctioned by the Treasury act as conduits for the information warfare waged by the regimes they serve. Imposing costs higher up on the chain of command — to the people ordering or funding these campaigns — may be a more effective means of deterrence than targeting the operators themselves.” — Max Lesser, Senior Analyst on Emerging Threats, Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation

“The latest round of U.S. sanctions against the GRU-affiliated Center for Global Expertise and the newly exposed IRGC-affiliated Cognitive Design Production Center show that the U.S. government takes election interference increasingly seriously. The Center for Global Expertise was responsible for directing Russia’s most impactful influence operations targeting the U.S. elections in conjunction with John Mark Dougan, an American citizen and a former deputy sheriff in Florida who received political asylum in Russia. The outing of the new Iranian influence center showcases quality intelligence collection and penetration of the IRGC and hints at more punitive actions to come.” — Ari Ben Am, Adjunct Fellow, Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation

“These efforts should come as no surprise. Russian and Iranian influence operations pose a major threat to American democracy. Both regimes have long conceived of information as a weapon, and the United States cannot afford to be timid in response. These sanctions are a step in the right direction, but Washington should also go on the offensive.” — Ivana Stradner, Research Fellow