The United States takes action to defend and protect U.S. campaign and government officials from Iranian attempts to interfere in U.S. elections.
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated seven individuals as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to Iran’s operations that sought to influence or interfere in the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections. 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 designations undertaken today pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13848, complement law enforcement actions taken by the Department of Justice against a variety of Iranian election interference actors.
“The U.S. government continues to closely monitor efforts by malicious actors to influence or interfere in the integrity of our elections,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. “Treasury, as part of a whole-of-government effort leveraging all available tools and authorities, remains strongly committed to holding accountable those who see to undermine our institutions.”
In the summer of 2024, the U.S. government identified that the Government of Iran had been seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in the United States’ democratic institutions, using social engineering and other efforts to gain access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns. Such activities, including thefts and disclosures, are intended to influence the U.S. election process. Since at least May 2024, Iran-based hackers have increased their malicious cyber-enabled targeting of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. These intrusions have been reported as the work of “APT 42” and “Mint Sandstorm” by private security firms.