The US State Department on Monday announced a reward of up to $10 million for information related to a cyber group known as Shahid Shushtari allegedly linked to Iran's military and US election meddling.
Shahid Shushtari is the military name for a cyber unit within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cyber Electronic Command, an entity currently under US sanctions.
The group is known for creating front companies and organizations with various aliases, including Ilia Net Gostar and EmenNet Pasargad.
“Shahid Shushtari has many names, but only a few addresses. Contact us if you know of any others,” the Rewards for Justice program posted on X on Monday.
The announcement also gave details about at a Rewards for Justice booth at the Black Hat 2025 cybersecurity event taking place in Las Vegas this week.
US law enforcement accuses Shahid Shushtari of repeatedly interfering with United States elections.
Last year the US Treasury Department sanctioned seven Islamic Republic operatives for attempting to influence and interfere in the 2020 and 2024 US presidential polls.
In 2020, the cyber group gained access to confidential election information from a state's website and sought to intimidate American voters by sending threatening emails.
According to information from the group Lip Stitchers and cybersecurity expert Nariman Gharib, EmenNet Pasargad's new campaign focuses on "disrupting the registration process, contaminating voting systems, spreading rumors and creating chaos, and ultimately hitting the infrastructure of the US elections".
