By RFE/RL
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department has announced new sanctions against 11 individuals and entities for allegedly supporting Iran’s banned ballistic-missile program or for being responsible for cyberattacks against U.S. financial institutions.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on September 14 said two Ukraine-based airlines are among those being slapped with sanctions, accused of aiding sanctioned Iranian and Iraqi carriers.The Treasury Department added the individuals and companies to their Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List.
OFAC said those sanctioned also include an entity engaged in activities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) ballistic-missile program, along with two Iran-based networks “responsible for malicious cyber-enabled attacks against the U.S. financial system.”
“The Treasury will continue to take strong actions to counter Iran’s provocations, including support for the IRGC…and terrorist extremists, the ongoing campaign of violence in Syria, and cyberattacks meant to destabilize the U.S. financial system,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Under the latest actions, the property and interests under U.S. jurisdiction of those sanctioned will be frozen and they could have their access to the U.S. financial system blocked, the Treasury said.
OFAC said it had designated Ukraine-based Khors Aircompany and Dart Airlines for aiding sanctioned Iranian and Iraqi airlines by providing aircraft and services.
It said Khors and Dart helped Iran’s Caspian Air and Iraq’s Al-Naser Airlines acquire U.S.-built aircraft, as well as crew and services.
One of the individuals on the sanctions list is also wanted by the F.B.I. According to the FBI Mohamad Sadegh Ahmadzadegan is wanted in connection with "alleged involvement in a conspiracy to conduct a coordinated campaign of distributed denial of service ("DDoS") attacks against the United States financial sector and other United States companies from 2012 through 2013" He is on the
The new sanctions also target an engineering company, and an IT company. When the United States formally charged the Iranian individuals in March of 2016 Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the cyberattacks inflicted tens of millions of dollars in damages.
Iran has previously denied involvement in the cyberattacks.
