US seizes 36 domains for violating sanctions

On June 22, 2021 (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice released a statement saying that it had seized the domains of 36 websites, including the Iranian government broadcaster. The website was using a domain owned by a US company despite being subject to US sanctions.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on June 22 that it had seized the domains of 33 websites operated by Iran’s IRTVU and three websites owned by the terrorist organization Kata’ib Hizballah. IRTVU appears to be owned and managed by the Iranian government military organization and the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC has designated IRTUV as a Specially Designated National (SDN) in October 2020 that threatens national security. . Also, although Hezbollah is a terrorist organization operating in Iraq, it is supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and others, and it was also designated as SDN by OFAC in 2009.

Websites whose domains have been seized this time include Press TV, the Iranian government’s main English satellite TV channel, and Al Alam, an Arabic news channel, as well as Al-Masirah TV, which is broadcast in Yemen. Included. The US Justice Department alleges that the Iranian government is using IRTVU and similar media to target the US in a misinformation campaign.

Organizations designated in SDN must obtain an OFAC license if they use a US corporate domain. However, IRTVU and Hezbollah confiscated the domains as part of law enforcement action because they were using US corporate domains on their websites, despite not having an OFAC license.

Previous website domains, such as Press TV, where the domain was seized, display a statement indicating that the domain was confiscated by the US government. In addition, most of the websites whose domains have been seized are immediately opening a site by acquiring another domain, and Press TV is also converting to a new website.

The seizure of the domain came a few days after the election of hard-line conservative Seyed Ebrahim Laishi in the Iranian presidential election on June 19. The Iranian government said it did not consider the move positive while negotiations on an agreement on the nuclear issue were ongoing. In October 2020, the U.S. government also seized 92 domains from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s website, claiming that it was spreading propaganda toward the United States. Related information can be found here.