The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on two organizations from Iran and Russia for attempting to interfere with the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

The sanctioned entities include:
– A subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
– A Moscow-based affiliate of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)

The Iranian entity, Cognitive Design Production Center (CDPC), conducted influence operations aimed at creating sociopolitical tensions ahead of the 2024 elections. The Russian organization, Center for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE), worked directly with GRU to conduct political interference operations and cyber warfare targeting Western nations.

Key Activities Identified:
– CGE utilized AI tools to create and distribute synthetic content through fake news websites
– Built private servers to host AI tools and avoid content blocking
– Maintained a network of over 100 websites for disinformation campaigns
– Received GRU funding for operations and infrastructure

The sanctions follow earlier investigations by U.S. intelligence agencies, including the FBI and CISA, which revealed Iranian cyber operations targeting election-related information. Meta also previously blocked Iranian threat actors using WhatsApp to target individuals across multiple countries.

The Treasury Department emphasized that Russia employs various tools, including covert influence campaigns and cyber activities, to undermine U.S. national security interests and those of its allies, often using proxy websites and fake online personas to mask state involvement.