MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook has identified and banned more accounts engaged in misleading political behavior ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November.

The social network said Tuesday that it had removed 652 pages, groups, and accounts linked to Russia and, unexpectedly, Iran, for "coordinated inauthentic behavior" that included the sharing of political material.

Facebook has significantly stepped up policing of its platform since last year, when it acknowledged that Russian agents successfully ran political influence operations on Facebook aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential e...