On Friday, hours before the United States carried out an offensive against Iranian-backed militants, it hit Tehran with more familiar weapons: sanctions and criminal charges.
The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on officers and officials from Iran's top military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for threatening the integrity of water utilities and helping build Iranian drones. It unveiled charges against nine people for selling oil to fund the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
The timing appears to have been designed to put pressure on the Revolutionary Guards and its most elite force, the Quds Force, at a time of extraordinary tensions in the Middle East. The sanctions have been in the works for some time and the charges have been quietly made before, but the region has been in turmoil for months.
These actions are a coordinated, whole-of-government effort to thwart Iran's efforts to use illicit oil sales to finance terrorism and thwart the country's increasingly capable offensive cyber operations. This is part of the In the 15 years since the United States launched a major cyberattack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran has trained a generation of hackers to fight back against Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United States and others. Two U.S. officials said the United States conducted a cyber operation targeting Iran on Friday, but did not provide details.
The effectiveness of sanctions and prosecutions is difficult to measure. Sanctions are likely to have little practical effect because few Iranian officials and officials store assets in Western banks or travel to the United States. While the indictments and sanctions have a psychological component, showing Iranians and their business associates around the world that their movements and transactions are frequently tracked by Western intelligence agencies, actual arrests and Trials are rare.
Matthew G. Olsen, head of the Justice Department's national security division, said, “We are bringing these lawsuits because Iran is using the money it makes from illegal oil sales to fund its malign activities around the world.'' Because I know what's going on.” he said Friday. “The threat posed by Iran and the destabilizing impact of its actions have become more evident since the October 7 attack, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people.”
There has been a series of actions against Iran over the past week, culminating in attacks on Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq on Friday. The airstrike was carried out in retaliation for last Sunday's drone attack that killed three U.S. service members at a base in Jordan.
On Monday, the Justice Department dropped charges against an Iranian man in Minnesota accused of hiring members of the Hells Angels to kill an Iranian dissident in Maryland. Four Chinese nationals were indicted in Washington on Wednesday on charges of attempting to smuggle and export technology used in military equipment and weapons for groups associated with the Revolutionary Guards. Used for weapons systems and surveillance.
Sanctions related to water utilities included hacking so-called “logic controllers” manufactured by Israel's Unitronics that operate pumps and valves in water systems. Getting closer to air traffic controllers is a way to remind the United States and other countries that critical infrastructure is vulnerable.
“The United States worked with the private sector and other affected countries to quickly remediate the incident with minimal impact,” the Treasury Department said. However, this is not the only attack of this type originating from Iran. Ransomware attacks have originated from Iranian hackers, including his attack on Boston Children's Hospital three years ago and a major casino in Las Vegas.
The sanctions targeted a series of leaders, including Hamid Reza Rashgarian, leader of the Revolutionary Guard's Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defense Organization.
Separate sanctions issued by the State Department focused on four companies that the United States said were providing materials and technology to Iran's drone and missile programs. Drones are of particular concern because of Russia's extensive use of drones against Ukraine.
The most drastic move came from the Justice Department, which announced indictments against nine people from Iran, Turkey, China and Oman in connection with efforts to smuggle and sell Iranian oil in violation of U.S. law.
The legal action comes amid deepening tensions between the United States and Iran. Officials say attacks like this one, which killed three Americans, are funded by illegal Iranian oil sales. And since Oct. 7, the intensity has increased, with Iranian-backed militias carrying out more than 160 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
“Today's incident is part of the department's continued efforts to disrupt the flow of black market Iranian oil that funds the regime's malign activities that threaten the United States and our interests around the world.” Olsen said.
Eric Schmidt Contributed to reporting from Washington.
