The US Treasury sanctions Iranian and Russian entities over attempted election interference, including a Moscow entity that directed the creation of deepfakes

The Treasury Department said Iran and Russia sought to divide Americans through targeted disinformation campaigns in the 2024 elections.

NBC News 2025-01-01 Raquel Coronell Uribe

Context & Ripple Effects

This action extends a recurring Treasury response to election-related Russian activity, following 2018 sanctions tied to Project Lakhta and 2021 measures over 2020 interference and SolarWinds.

Iran had already been identified in related coverage as an especially active 2024 election threat, including efforts to target a presidential campaign; the new designations add alleged deepfake direction to that interference record.

First-order effects

The designated Iranian and Russian entities become immediate targets of U.S. sanctions, while the Moscow-based operation is publicly identified as having directed deepfake creation.
Treasury is treating synthetic-media production as part of the operational chain behind foreign election interference, rather than only as a content-moderation problem.

Second-order effects

The action broadens the deterrence pressure on influence operations: entities involved in producing or coordinating deceptive media, not just hacking or distribution, can become enforcement targets.
Platforms and election-security teams have added reason to connect deepfake investigations with state-linked influence networks, particularly where disinformation is designed to polarize audiences.

Third-order effects

If this enforcement pattern continues, election-security policy will increasingly join cyber sanctions with responses to synthetic-media operations, making the provenance and coordination behind content more consequential than any single post.
The practical limit remains attribution: sanctions can name and constrain identified operators, but durable disruption depends on whether government and platforms can share usable threat information quickly enough.

The trend: Foreign-election defense is expanding from hacking and covert accounts toward the state-linked production networks that create and coordinate synthetic media.

Discussion

@ecmclaughlin Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin on bluesky
This is reminiscent of what Obama did in 2016 after Russia interfered in the election. It's not nothing. Biden administration isn't done yet. — home.treasury.gov/news/press- r...
@cstross.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy Charlie Stross on bluesky
Server found in apartment funded by Russian government used AI to interfere with 2024 US elections | Department of Treasury — https://home.treasury.gov/news/press- releases/jy2766
@roryflynn808 Rory Flynn on bluesky
“...in war, all disasters can be explained by two words: “too late. — General Douglas MacArthur — home.treasury.gov/news/press- r...
@maxbrockbank.com @maxbrockbank.com on bluesky
The bit to note here is the server found in apartment funded by the Russian government using AI to interfere with November's US elections. — Nothing to see here. — https://home.treasury.gov/news/press- releases/jy2766
@ustreasury @ustreasury on x
The governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns. The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy.
@ustreasury @ustreasury on x
As affiliates of the IRGC and GRU, these actors aimed to stoke socio-political tensions and influence the U.S. electorate during the 2024 U.S. election.
@officejjsmart Jason Jay Smart on x
As we see, again, our enemies are at war with us, “Attempted Iranian and Russian Interference in U.S. General Election. The United States is imposing sanctions today on the Cognitive Design Production Center (CPDC), a subordinate organization of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary [imag…
@ustreasury @ustreasury on x
.@USTreasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control is designating a subordinate organization of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Moscow-based affiliate organization of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate. https://home.treasury.gov/...
@catherinebelton Catherine Belton on x
OFAC sanctions Center for Geopolitical Expertise, confirming our reporting on Russian GRU support for AI-generated US election interference operations through CGE head Valery Korovin & John Mark Dougan https://home.treasury.gov/.... You read it here first: https://www.washingtonp…
@ralakbar Alex Raufoglu on x
U.S. is imposing sanctions today on the Cognitive Design Production Center, a subordinate organization of IRGC Corps, and the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise as well as its director, Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin, affiliates of Russian GRU DoS Spox Miller: “These act…
@statedeptspox Matthew Miller on x
The United States is imposing sanctions on Iranian and Russian military intelligence affiliates involved in attempts to interfere in the U.S. 2024 general election. We remain committed to promoting accountability for those who seek to undermine our democratic institutions.
@iranintl_en @iranintl_en on x
“The Governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” said Bradley Smith, Treasury's Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
@w7voa Steve Herman on x
New sanctions unveiled by the Treasury Department against Iranian and Russian organizations, alleging they sought to interfere in the 2024 presidential election here in the US. https://ofac.treasury.gov/... https://journa.host/...
@iranintl_en @iranintl_en on x
The US has announced more sanctions against Russian and Iranian entities, including the IRGC-linked Cognitive Design Production Center (CDPC) in Tehran. The CDPC planned influence operations since at least 2023, the US Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday.
@wendysiegelman Wendy Siegelman on x
Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in US 2024 Election Center for Geopolitical Expertise/CGE founded by Aleksandr Dugin used AI tools to interfere in US election - GRU financed CGE & network of US-based facilitators https://home.treasury.go…
r/worldnews r on reddit
Server found in apartment funded by Russian government used AI to interfere with 2024 US elections | Department of Treasury December 31, 2024
r/USNewsHub r on reddit
Server found in apartment funded by Russian government used AI to interfere with 2024 US elections | Department of Treasury December 31, 2024
r/somethingiswrong2024 r on reddit
Server found in apartment funded by Russian government used AI to interfere with 2024 US elections | Department of Treasury December 31, 2024
r/AnythingGoesNews r on reddit
Server found in apartment funded by Russian government used AI to interfere with 2024 US elections | Department of Treasury December 31, 2024
r/thedavidpakmanshow r on reddit
Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in the U.S. 2024 Election
r/PrepperIntel r on reddit
Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in the U.S. 2024 Election
r/politics r on reddit
Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in the U.S. 2024 Election
r/news r on reddit
U.S. sanctions Russian and Iranian entities over attempted election interference
r/somethingiswrong2024 r on reddit
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