The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions on five Iranian entities that it says attempted to interfere in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, reports Xinhua.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said it designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the IRGC-Qods Force, the Bayan RasanehGostar Institute, the Iranian Islamic Radio and Television Union and International Union of Virtual Media for "having directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference" in the Nov. 3 election.
The groups have worked to "sow discord among the voting populace by spreading disinformation online and executing malign influence operations aimed at misleading U.S. voters," the Treasury said.
The sanctions forbid Americans and U.S. entities from doing business with the Iranian groups and U.S. social media companies have blocked accounts they determined as part of Iranian government-backed efforts related to the election. The IRGC and the IRGC-Quds Force have been sanctioned under multiple U.S. administrations since 2007.
On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said Iran has sent emails to intimidate U.S. voters and damage President Donald Trump in the presidential election.