WASHINGTON- The United States announced this Tuesday a new salvo of sanctions contra Iran, specifically against “two companies and four individuals involved in cyber attacks malicious attacks” directed “against US companies and government entities.
The attacks were carried out “on behalf of the Cyber Command of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
In addition, the Department of Justice and the FBI filed an indictment against the four sanctioned, the Treasury reported.
Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in the statement that “malicious Iranian cybercriminals continue to attack U.S. companies and government entities as part of a coordinated, multi-pronged campaign to destabilize” critical infrastructure and harm the citizens.
The Cyber Command of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, “one of the Iranian government organizations behind the hacks, works through a series of front companies to attack the United States and other countries,” details the US Treasury.
“The management and key personnel of the front company know that their operations support” this organization, but this is not the case for “a significant part” of Iranian public opinion, he adds.
Sanctions
On Thursday the United States, in coordination with the United Kingdom, stepped up sanctions against Iran focusing on the “Iranian drone program, the steel industry and automakers.”
They did so after Iran attacked Israeli territory in response to an airstrike attributed by Tehran to Israel, in which seven members of the Revolutionary Guard, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, were killed, including two generals.
The European Union also plans to expand its sanctions against Iran.
Source: AFP
