A grand jury in the US has indicted three Iranians on charges related to the hacking and cyber espionage of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign. The indictment comes in the wake of growing concerns over election interference in the US by Iran, China and Russia.
Federal prosecutors in the United States filed criminal charges in the case today. The hackers reportedly targeted members of former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the three suspects had allegedly “conspired with numerous other hackers to carry out a year-long, widespread hacking operation on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
The charges relate to a top secret Iranian cyber espionage operation that allegedly stole key documents related to Donald Trump’s campaign. These hackers had also reportedly sent these details to several journalists and prominent individuals associated with US President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. That was before President Joe Biden backed down and nominated his deputy, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“The defendants’ own words make clear that they were attempting to undermine former President Trump’s campaign ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election,” Mr. Garland said.
Court documents revealed that the hackers “had prepared for and engaged in a widespread hacking campaign”. These include methods such as spear-phishing and social engineering techniques to compromise the accounts of numerous US government officials and individuals associated with political campaigns.
A report from Microsoft last month said that “Iranian hackers sent a spear phishing e-mail to a high-ranking official of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in June 2024.” This month, Google’s cyber security department had said that “Iranian hackers also tried to break into President Joe Biden’s campaign.”
Mr. Garland said, “The message from the U.S. government is clear: The American people, not a foreign power, decide the outcome of our nation’s elections.”
Details of how successful these hacking attempts were, which officials were targeted and the scale of the breach have not been revealed by the investigating agencies.
The United States Intelligence Community, or IC, said earlier this month that “as November approaches, foreign actors are stepping up their election influence activities. Since our last update on activities by Russia, Iran, and China Our decisions have not changed.”
Today’s indictment is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions against foreign hackers who have targeted government agencies and individuals.
Donald Trump’s history with Iran is very old. During his campaigns for the 2024 presidential election, Mr Trump claimed that US intelligence agencies have reportedly told him that Tehran is allegedly plotting to assassinate him.
Top United States security officials believe Iran has been plotting the assassination of Donald Trump for years, seeking revenge for the 2020 killing of Iran’s then-top general Qassem Soleimani, one of the country’s most influential persons. Was one of.
How dangerous is the “Iran threat”?
The Attorney General said that “there are few actors in this world that pose as serious a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran does.”
Court documents revealed that these hacking attempts were planned in 2020 itself. He further said that in May this year, hackers started targeting and gaining illegal access to the personal accounts of individuals associated with the US presidential campaign.
The US Treasury Department also took strong action in the matter, imposing sanctions on seven Iranians, including Masoud Jalili, one of the three hackers charged today.
“The United States Treasury is firmly committed to holding accountable those who seek to undermine our institutions,” said Bradley Smith, the current Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
In addition to Jalili, Treasury also imposed sanctions on six staff members and executives of Iranian cybersecurity firm Emenet Pasarghad. “Between approximately August and November 2020, Emanet Pasargad led an online operation to intimidate and influence American voters and to undermine voter confidence and sow discord,” Treasury said.
Russian and Chinese “interference”
The US has also accused Russia and China of interfering in the US presidential election, allegations which both Russia and China have denied. While Donald Trump’s campaign has alleged that Vladimir Putin is openly supporting Kamala Harris based on her comments in a television interview, the US government has claimed that Russian media is trying to influence American voters.
He claims that China is also interfering, based on who it thinks will be more suitable for its global agenda. Both Moscow and Beijing have denied these allegations.
The US has accused the Chinese government of directly interfering in America’s internal affairs as Beijing has reportedly made repeated and persistent efforts to polarize Americans on the basis of domestic issues ahead of the US elections. Beijing has also been accused of targeted attacks on candidates and parties.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in April this year that the US had found evidence of Chinese efforts to “influence and arguably interfere” in the US elections.
