In the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision last month not to certify the nuclear deal with Iran, on grounds that the sanctions relief was not “appropriate and proportionate” to Iran’s behavior, the Justice Department is poised to announce charges against several Iranian suspects in connection with HBO hack this past summer, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Following Trump’s announcement that he could not certify the deal, according to the Corker-Cardin legislation the accord goes before Congress to determine how to proceed and whether or not to impose new sanctions on Iran.

Since the deal was implemented nearly two years ago, Iran has been acting more aggressively in the Middle East, exerting greater control over Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, threatening American allies in the region, and coming close to completing a land bridge to the Mediterranean that would directly threaten Israel. Iran has also continued the development of its ballistic missile capability in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 which implemented the nuclear deal and refusing to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect nuclear sites where it is suspected of developing technology for nuclear weapons.

The HBO hack was reported to have uncovered scripts of the popular Game of Thrones series and e-mails of a company executive. The hackers told news organizations that its goal was to extort money from the entertainment giant in exchange for not revealing additional proprietary information.

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