Trump Accuses Iran of Cyberattack on His Campaign

The Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump has publicly accused Iran of hacking his campaign's internal communications.

This accusation followed a report by Politico, which had received emails from an anonymous source offering authentic documents from within Trump's campaign. These documents included sensitive information such as a report on running mate JD Vance's "potential vulnerabilities."

Trump's spokesperson, Steven Cheung, stated, "These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process."

Cheung further emphasized that "the Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House."

Adding to the allegations, Trump posted on his Truth Social app that Microsoft had informed his campaign about an Iranian hack on one of its websites. He noted that the hackers were "only able to get publicly available information," but did not provide further details on the nature of the hack.

In response to these claims, Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York denied any involvement. They stated via email, "The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election."

They dismissed the reports, asserting that Iran's cyber capabilities are "defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces," and reiterated that they had no plans to launch cyberattacks.

This incident is set against a backdrop of historically strained relations between Trump and Iran. During his previous term, Trump ordered the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020 and withdrew the United States from the multilateral Iran nuclear deal.

Additionally, Trump survived an assassination attempt in July 2024, and while there have been no direct links to Iran, U.S. intelligence had previously reported an Iranian plot against him, which Iran also denied.