OFAC Sanctions Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security for "Cyber-Enabled Activities"

OFAC sanctioned Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security ("MOIS") and its Minister of Intelligence for conducting cyber-related attacks and other malicious cyber operations against the United States and its allies.

OFAC said that, since at least 2007, the MOIS (at the instruction of its Minister of Intelligence), as well as other Iran-sponsored cyber proxies, targeted "a range of government and private-sector organizations around the world and across various critical infrastructure sectors" with "malicious cyber related operations." OFAC highlighted certain actions, such as Iran's cyberattack against Albania, which, OFAC stated, goes against "norms of responsible peacetime State behavior in cyberspace[.]"

The MOIS had previously been sanctioned for supporting multiple terrorist groups largely responsible for coordinating human rights abuse against the Iranian people. This action sanctions the MOIS and Minister of Intelligence for cyber-related activities pursuant to EO 13694 ("Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities").