The FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the United States issued a joint statement on Monday warning about the Iranian regime’s attempts to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential elections.
They advised campaign teams to implement necessary security measures, including using official emails only for official business, not opening suspicious emails, updating software, using strong passwords, and enabling multi-factor authentication.
The three organizations stated that the Iranian regime seeks to sow discord and undermine public trust in U.S. democratic institutions. Additionally, Iran has a long-standing interest in exploiting social tensions through various means, including cyber operations to access sensitive information related to U.S. elections.
The statement also notes that the Iranian regime is aiming to complicate any U.S. administration’s ability to pursue foreign policies that conflict with Tehran’s interests.
The statement recalls that the U.S. intelligence community had previously reported that the Iranian regime views this fall’s U.S. elections as particularly significant and is increasingly attempting to influence the outcome.
“We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle, specifically involving influence operations targeting the American public and cyber operations targeting Presidential campaigns,” said the statement released by the FBI, DNI, and CISA.
In their joint statement, the three U.S. security agencies mentioned that the Iranian regime’s activities include those recently reported regarding the compromise of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign, which the U.S. intelligence community attributed to the Iranian government.
The Iranian Regime’s Response to the Report
In response to the report, Mizan News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, quoted Iran’s representative at the United Nations as saying, “Such claims are baseless and without any merit.” He reiterated that “Iran has no intention or motive to interfere in U.S. elections.”
The Iranian representative at the UN, asserting that Iran has “no intention or motive to interfere in U.S. elections,” asked the U.S. government to “provide us with their evidence so we can respond.”
Last Monday, the FBI announced that it was investigating suspicious attempts attributed to the Iranian government to hack the Democratic Party’s campaign and one of Donald Trump’s aides.
Earlier, U.S. media reported that Iranian regime hackers had likely managed to hack the personal email account of Roger Stone, a veteran Republican operative and close associate of Trump.
The joint statement by U.S. security agencies indicates that the U.S. intelligence community is confident that Iranian regime operatives, through “social engineering” and other efforts, have sought access to individuals directly involved in the presidential campaigns of both major U.S. political parties, and “such activities, including thefts and leaks, are intended to influence the U.S. election process.”
According to the statement, such actions have previously been carried out by the Iranian and Russian regimes during past U.S. elections and in other countries. The FBI has tracked these activities, been in contact with the targets, and continues to investigate and gather information to pursue and disrupt those threatening the integrity of U.S. elections.
The FBI, DNI, and CISA stated that they will not tolerate foreign efforts to influence or interfere in the November 5, 2024, U.S. presidential elections, including targeting the candidates’ campaign teams.
