US sanctions, charges 2 Iranians for alleged election meddling

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US sanctioned and charged two Iranian nationals Thursday for allegedly carrying out a hacking campaign that compromised confidential voter information from at least one state website.

Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi, 24, and Sajjad Kashian, 27, are alleged to have been part of a group that used voter information to send threatening emails to intimidate voters, and separately carried out a multi-faceted campaign to sway the polls, the Justice Department said in a statement.

That included creating and spreading videos that purported to reveal election infrastructure vulnerabilities and successfully gaining access to a US media outlet's computer network. The FBI and the outlet, which was not identified, were able to mitigate the cyber intrusion that the department said "would have provided the conspirators another vehicle to disseminate false claims after the election."

“The allegations illustrate how foreign disinformation campaigns operate and seek to influence the American public. The Department is committed to exposing and disrupting malign foreign influence efforts using all available tools, including criminal charges,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen.

Kazemi and Kashian have been charged with computer fraud, voter intimidation, and committing computer fraud and abuse to intimidate voters, and transmitting interstate threats. Kazemi was separately charged with one count of unauthorized computer intrusion.

The US has established a $10 million reward for information about the two individuals under its Rewards for Justice program.

The men allegedly worked for an Iranian company that was formerly known as Eeleyanet Gostar it was renamed Emennet Pasargad. The company is known to have provided services to the Iranian government, including the Guardian Council, according to the Justice Department.

Emennet Pasargad and four of its leaders were also put under US sanctions, said the Treasury Department.