US sanctions Russia and Iran over accusations of election interference

The US says affiliates of the Iranian and Russian governments worked to sow division during the 2024 elections.

The United States has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia and Iran, citing alleged efforts to interfere in its 2024 elections.

In a statement on Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury said an affiliate of Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU) and a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had worked to stoke domestic tensions.

“The Governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” Bradley Smith, the Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.

“The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy.”

President-elect Donald Trump ultimately emerged victorious in November’s presidential election. His right-wing party, the Republicans, also won control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together make up the US Congress.

The Treasury Department’s statement alleges that the Moscow-based Centre for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE) subsidised the creation of misleading images and helped spread “baseless accusations concerning a 2024 vice presidential candidate” without offering further details.

Allegations of election interference by countries like Russia have been a political flashpoint for years, although critics maintain their influence has been overstated.

Iranian and Russian officials have yet to respond to Tuesday’s allegations but have previously denied similar ones.

“Today’s sanctions build on numerous previous US government actions that have disrupted Iran’s attempts to undermine confidence in our democratic institutions and Russia’s global malign influence campaigns and illicit cyber activities,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a news release on Tuesday.

The statement said the CGE and its director, Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin, were designated for sanctions along with the Cognitive Design Production Centre (CPDC), which it says is an affiliate of the IRGC.

Such sanctions would freeze any US-based assets the groups and individuals may have, and they prevent US-based entities from doing business with them.