The United States has imposed sanctions on multiple organizations in Russia and Iran for their alleged attempts to disrupt the 2024 presidential election, according to a Treasury Department announcement on Tuesday. These entities are accused of employing disinformation tactics aimed at influencing voters and fomenting social and political unrest.

The Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise, with suspected links to Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), is among those sanctioned. This group reportedly established its own server to host AI tools and circumvent foreign web-hosting restrictions. Subsequently, the Center allegedly utilized these tools to disseminate fabricated news through an extensive network of at least 100 websites, funded in part by US-based companies.

Furthermore, the Russian organization is accused of manipulating video content to fabricate accusations against a 2024 vice presidential candidate. This action follows prior US accusations that Russia fabricated a video attempting to defame Tim Walz, who was the running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Treasury Department also targeted the Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This entity is accused of planning election interference since at least 2023. This action is taken after previous indictments by the Justice Department of Iranian nationals who allegedly conducted cyberattacks against the campaign of then President-elect Donald Trump, along with OpenAI’s ban on accounts linked to Iranian influence operations.

Bradley Smith, Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated in a press release that the governments of Iran and Russia had deliberately sought to undermine US election processes and sow discord among the American public through targeted disinformation campaigns.