The US government is taking sanctions and legal action against cybercrime controlled from Iran.
The US judiciary has launched investigations into three Iranians for hacker attacks on critical infrastructure and charged them, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday.
They are accused of targeting and blackmailing hundreds of victims themselves in the US and other countries such as Britain, Israel and Iran.
Among the victims in the United States were regional power companies, a public housing association and a home for victims of domestic violence.
The Iranian government has created a safe haven for such crimes, the ministry said.
The judiciary assumes that the Iranians are abroad.
Connections to the Revolutionary Guard
At the same time, the US government imposed sanctions on 10 people and two entities in Iran for their role in conducting malicious cyber attacks, the US Treasury Department said.
The group has ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, it said.
In the United States, the Revolutionary Guards are on a list of terrorist organizations.
The cybercriminals are said to particularly target US and Middle East defense, diplomatic and government personnel, as well as private sectors such as media, energy, business services and telecommunications.
Any possessions of those affected in the USA will now be frozen, and US citizens will be prohibited from doing business with them.