December 31, 2021
Two suspected Iranian computer hackers have been charged by the United States with election interference, accused of trying to intimidate American voters ahead of last year’s US presidential election by sending threatening messages and spreading disinformation.
The pair have not been arrested and are presumed to be in Iran, so are in no danger of facing trial.
The effort attracted publicity in the run-up to the November 2020 election, when law enforcement and intelligence officials held an unusual evening news conference to accuse Iran of orchestrating an email campaign aimed at intimidating Democratic voters in battleground states so they would vote for then-President Donald Trump.
That included emails that purported to be from an American far-right group, the Proud Boys, that threatened Democratic voters with physical harm if they didn’t change their party affiliation and vote for Trump.
US officials say the goal of the operation was not to influence the results of the election but to sow confusion and discord and create the perception that the results could not be trusted. Iran opposed Trump’s re-election so it presumably hoped the emails would be publicized and embarrass Trump’s campaign.
The indictment, filed in the federal court in Manhattan and unsealed November 18, accuses Iranian nationals Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi, 24, and Sajjad Kashian, 27, of helping orchestrate the scheme. The Treasury Department also announced sanctions against the men, their colleagues and the company they worked for.
The defendants are never likely to be arrested, but officials hope the indictment will restrict their ability to travel and pin them down in Iran. However, the State Department is offering a $10 million reward for information on Kazemi and Kashian.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned the two men as well as the cybersecurity firm they worked for as contractors and four executives of the company, Emennet Pasargad.
