This Monday, June 21, 2021 photo shows Iran's new President-elect Ebrahim Raisi during a news conference in Tehran, Iran. Iran said Tuesday, June 22, that several state-linked news websites have been seized by the U.S. government under unclear circumstances. While there was no immediate acknowledgement of the seizures from American authorities, it comes amid the wider heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's now-tattered nuclear deal with world powers.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — American authorities seized a range of Iran’s state-linked news website domains they accused of spreading “disinformation” on Tuesday, a U.S. official said, a move that appeared to be a far-reaching crackdown on Iranian media amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case had not yet been officially announced by the American government, said the U.S. had effectively taken down roughly three dozen websites, the majority linked to Iranian disinformation efforts.

Iranian state-run news agency IRNA announced the U.S. government seizures without providing further information.

Relations between Iran and the U.S. have deteriorated for years following then-President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal and return of devastating sanctions on the country. That decision has seen Iran, over time, gradually abandon every limit on uranium enrichment. The country is now enriching uranium to 60%, its highest level ever, though still short of weapons-grade levels.

Iran provides support to militant groups in the region, such as Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, as it seeks to wield its influence far afield and counter its foes.

On Tuesday, visiting the addresses of a handful of sites, including Iran state television’s English-language arm Press TV and Iranian state TV’s Arabic-language channel, Al-Alam, produced a federal takedown notice. It said the websites were seized “as part of law enforcement action” by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The U.S. government also took over the domain name of the news website Palestine Today, which reflects the view points of Gaza-based Islamic militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, redirecting the site to the same takedown notice.