The sanctions were issued on Friday, just days after Albana severed diplomatic ties with Iran.
The US government has imposed new sanctions on Iran's intelligence ministry and its minister following a massive cyberattack on the Albanian government in July. Albania, a NATO ally of the US, this week cut diplomatic ties with Iran over the attack and ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy workers to leave within 24 hours.
According to Bleeping Computer, the US Department of Treasury announced sanctions against Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and Minister of Intelligence head Esmail Khatib for their involvement in several networks of cyber threat actors who carried out "increasingly aggressive cyber activities," Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson said.
As part of Iran's government, MOIS is an intelligence agency that deals with intelligence and counterintelligence efforts and covert actions that support the Islamic regime's objectives internationally. The US Treasury Department said that they were involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks.
US Treasury Department Finds 'Malicious Cyber Operations' Carried out by Iranian Agency
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revealed that since 2007, the MOIS and its cyber actor proxies had been engaged in several malicious cyber operations that target governments and other private-sector organizations all over the world. In July, these very same cyber threat actors sponsored by the Iranian government and MOIS carried out an attack on Albania's government computer systems, causing massive disruption and shutdown of services.
US Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said on Friday that the Albania cyberattack carried out by Iran "disregards norms of responsible peacetime State behavior in cyberspace" that requires anyone not to target "critical infrastructure" that provides public services. He warned that the US would not tolerate such cyberattacks against the country or its allies.
Read Also: Albania Severs Diplomatic Ties with Iran Following July Cyberattack as US Seeks Accountability
Investigation Finds Ties to Iranian Intelligence Group
The investigation into the Albania cyberattack was conducted with help from a cybersecurity research team from Microsoft, who revealed that the Iranian cyber operation carried out several digital espionage techniques such as data wiping malware and online information operations, Reuters reported. The hackers' goal appeared to be to embarrass government officials in Albania.
The US government's issuance of fresh sanctions against Iran comes as the two countries struggle to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Al Jazeera reported. Meanwhile, Albania, a NATO ally, had welcomed an Iranian opposition group called Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), which Iran believes is a "terrorist" organization that wishes to overthrow their government, causing friction between themselves and Albania.
The US sanctions against Iran come just a day after it imposed penalties against a number of Iranian companies for their involvement in the production and supply of drones to Russia for their attack on Ukraine. The sanctions seek to freeze the assets of the individuals and entities involved and prohibit American citizens from doing business with them. Nelson said the US is "holding accountable Iran and those supporting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."
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