The United States has accused Iran of launching cyberattacks against the presidential campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Additionally, Iran is said to have conducted influence operations targeting American voters, aimed at exacerbating political divisions within the country. This assessment from the FBI and other federal authorities marks the first instance in which the U.S. government has explicitly pointed the finger at Iran as concerns about foreign interference in the upcoming election escalate.
“We have observed increased aggressiveness from Iran in this election cycle, particularly with influence operations directed at the American public and cyber operations against presidential campaigns,” stated the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in a joint statement. “This includes the recently reported activities attempting to compromise former President Trump’s campaign, which intelligence officials attribute to Iran,” they added.
Earlier this month, the Trump campaign accused Iran of hacking one of their websites. At that time, Trump suggested that Iran “was only able to obtain publicly available information.” According to the U.S. statement, Iran has also targeted Harris’s campaign, which is set to receive the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at the conference this week.
However, Iran’s mission to the United Nations has dismissed the allegations as “unfounded and without legitimacy,” challenging Washington to provide evidence for its claims. “As we have previously announced, the Islamic Republic of Iran has neither the intention nor the motivation to interfere in the U.S. presidential election,” stated the mission.
The U.S. assertion mentioned that intelligence officials are convinced that Iranian operators have employed social engineering and other methods “to seek access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both parties.” These activities included theft and disclosures “intended to influence the American electoral process,” although further details were not elaborated upon.
The U.S. elections are scheduled for November 5. Google reported earlier this month that hackers backed by Iran have targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. A hacker group known as APT42, linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has interfered with prominent individuals and organizations in Israel and the U.S., including government officials and political campaigns.
In 2016, the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails—which was blamed on the Russian military intelligence—became public, revealing internal party communications, including information about candidate Hillary Clinton. Trump, who later won the election, faced criticism for allegedly encouraging the hacking.
The latest hacking allegations come amid significant tensions between Washington and Tehran, particularly in light of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. U.S. authorities did not provide specifics on how they determined Iran’s involvement or what information may have been stolen from the Trump campaign.