4 yıl önce

US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran groups over election 'interference'

The sanctions, which forbid Americans and US entities from doing business with five Iranian entities, will likely have little impact, as some of the groups are already subject to other sanctions.

Reuters

People line up at the Supervisor of Elections Office polling station as early voting begins in Pinellas County ahead of the election in Largo, Florida, US, October 21, 2020

The United States has slapped new sanctions on five Iranian entities for what it called "brazen attempts" to interfere with the US election.

Stepping up pressure after US intelligence pointed the finger at both Iran and Russia, the Treasury Department accused the Iranian groups of seeking to spread disinformation and division ahead of the November 3 vote.

The Treasury imposed the fresh sanctions against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the IRGC-Quds Force, the Bayan Rasaneh Gostar Institute, the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union and International Union of Virtual Media.

The groups have worked to "sow discord among the voting populace by spreading disinformation online and executing malign influence operations aimed at misleading US voters," the Treasury said.

The announcement came one day after the US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe pointed to Iran as behind recent emails addressed to US voters threatening them to support President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.

Election influence

Bayan Gostar, which the Treasury called an IRGC-Quds Force "front company" for propaganda, took the lead in the activities, it said.

Ahead of the election, "Bayan Gostar personnel have planned to influence the election by exploiting social issues within the United States, including the coronavirus pandemic, and denigrating US political figures," it said.

"As recently as summer 2020, Bayan Gostar was prepared to execute a series of influence operations directed at the US populace ahead of the presidential election."

The two media groups were part of that operation, it said.

Right-wing email threats

The Treasury gave no specific details on what the Iranians had done, but US social media companies have blocked accounts and postings they said were part of Iranian government-backed influence efforts related to the election and social issues.

The sanctions, which forbid Americans and US entities from doing business with the Iranian groups, likely have little real impact, as the IRGC and IRGC-Quds Force are already subject to other sweeping sanctions.

The emails to voters appeared to have been sent by a right-wing US militia group, the Proud Boys, but Ratcliffe said Iran was behind them.

Trump stirred controversy in his first debate with his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, by equivocating on whether he condemns the Proud Boys.

'Fabricated and clumsy'

Iran summoned the ambassador of Switzerland, who represents US interests in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic relations, to deny the "fabricated and clumsy" allegations.

US authorities "have put forward a baseless claim on the verge of the country's election so that they would advance their undemocratic and predefined scenario through shifting the blame," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

The accusations against Iran came after longstanding US concerns about the role of Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged favouring Trump in the 2016 election and an investigation by former FBI chief Robert Mueller found evidence that Trump associates cooperated with Moscow, although he said he did not have enough to bring conspiracy charges.

Trump has repeatedly voiced anger at the "Russia hoax," describing it as a way to discredit his election victory.

Sworn enemy of Iran

While Trump has spoken fondly of Putin, his administration has been a sworn enemy of Iran's clerical regime, imposing overwhelming sanctions and withdrawing from a landmark nuclear accord negotiated by former president Barack Obama.

The Treasury Department separately on Thursday imposed sanctions against Iran's ambassador to Iraq, where the United States has been working to fight Tehran's influence.

The Treasury alleged Iraj Masjedi was a "close adviser" to Qasem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful general, who was killed in January by a US strike.

Masjedi in response said he was "pleased to hear the news" that the "terrorist and criminal regime of the United States has put me once more on the list of its unjust sanctions alongside 80 million Iranians."

It "has proved the rightfulness of my goals and actions," he told Iran's state news agency IRNA, calling the Guards' Quds Force "a source of pride for all the free people and the Mujahideen fighting in the name of God."

On Friday, Iran blacklisted the US ambassador in Iraq and two other diplomats, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.