Who are the 10 Iranians sanctioned by the United States for cyber espionage?

The U.S. government announced on Wednesday, February 13, that it has placed two companies based in Iran and 10 people affiliated with them on its sanctions list.

The U.S. Department of Treasury, in a statement, identified the two Iranian legal entities as “Horizon Organization” and “Net Pursuers of Samavat Company.”

According to the statement, Net Pursuers has conducted cyber attacks against current and former U.S. government and military officials, and Horizon has held international conferences to recruit personnel for the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and gather intelligence from foreign nationals.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury has also added the names of 10 individuals to the sanctions list in this connection.

Alireza Montazemi, founder and chief executive of Horizon, Hamed Qashqaei, director of international affairs, Nader Talibzadeh, chairman, and Zeinab Talibzadeh, his special assistant, are among the individuals whose names have been added to the U.S. sanctions list.

Behzad Mesri, Hossein Abbasi (Alavi), Hossein Parovar, Mojtaba Masoumpour, Milad Mirzabigi, and Mohammad Baqer Shirinkaar, managers and employees of “Net Connection of Samavat,” have also been sanctioned in connection with the company’s activities against the United States.

Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of Treasury, stated in the statement that the department is taking action against Iranian cyber activists and their covert operations targeting Americans at home and abroad, as part of “ongoing operations to combat cyber attacks by the Iranian regime.”

The U.S. Department of Treasury statement also said it has brought charges against “Monica Witt,” a former U.S. Air Force officer, for assisting Iran in conducting cyber operations against U.S. intelligence officials.

Source: Voice of America