U.S. sanctions 9 Iranians, 2 entities for 'Covert Malicious' actions
  • 5 years ago
The United States has imposed new sanctions on nine Iranian citizens and two entities that it says are engaging in malicious covert actions against Americans.
For more on this and other news around the world we turn to our Ro Aram…
Aram… tell us more…

Well Mark… the sanctions were announced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday.
The targeted entities include the New Horizon Organization, which the Treasury Department says hosts international conferences aimed at recruiting and collecting intelligence from foreign attendees.
The other is the Net Peygard Samavat Company.
They are both accused of helping Tehran spy on Americans both at home and abroad through cyber-attacks and other covert operations.
Nine individuals linked to the organizations were also sanctioned.
U.S. prosecutors have also charged a former U.S. Air Force officer, who had high-level security clearance, with collaborating with Iran's military to spy on her former American colleagues.
Monica Elfriede Witt defected to Iran six years ago and is thought to have supplied classified information about U.S. spy techniques and the people who took part in them to the Iranian government.
She was reported to have been recruited for the operation after attending two conferences in Iran organized by New Horizon.
Washington says Net Peyguard used information supplied by Witt to launch a cyber campaign in 2014 that tracked the activities of her former colleagues.
Witt remains at large and was last seen in southwest Asia in July 2013.
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