US sanctions Russia, Iran entities for detaining Americans

By ZEKE MILLER
AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is sanctioning Russia’s Federal Security Service and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization for wrongfully detaining Americans. It’s the first rollout of new sanctions authorities established last year by President Joe Biden for use against those holding Americans unjustly captive. Still, the sanctions are largely symbolic, since both organizations already are under sweeping existing sanctions for an array of malevolent behavior — from election interference and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to support for terrorist activity.