Trump campaign confirms security breach, blames Iran

The campaign team for US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Saturday that some of its international communications had been hacked by those "hostile" to the United States, suggesting Iran's involvement.

"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," Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Cheung was responding to revelations by the Politico news outlet that it had begun receiving emails from an anonymous account containing documents from within the Republican Party candidate's campaign operation.

Trump's campaign provided no specific evidence of Iran's involvement but did imply that Tehran was responsible by mentioning a report by Microsoft researchers published earlier this week.

The report said Iran government-tied hackers tried breaking into the account of a "high-ranking official" on the US presidential campaign in June.

That report did not provide further details on the official's identity.

"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," said Cheung.

He warned that "any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America's enemies and doing exactly what they want."

What is known about the emails?

Politico said it began receiving the anonymous emails on July 22. They came from a person who identified as Robert with an AOL email account.

The news outlet said the emails relayed what appeared to be internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official.

The documents included a dossier written about Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, which was dated February 23.

Politico cited two people familiar with the dossier, who confirmed its authenticity.

One of the two sources described the report as a preliminary version of Vance's vetting file.

How has Iran replied?

Iran's mission to the United Nations has dismissed all allegations and denied any involvement.

"We do not accord any credence to such reports," the mission told The Associated Press. "The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election."

In response to the Microsoft report, the mission also denied any plans to launch cyberattacks to interfere in the US election.

Why has Trump's team blamed Iran?

Trump had testy relations with Iran during his four years in office, and any second term could be equally fraught.

The former president pulled out of a landmark 2015 deal that saw Tehran agree to curb its nuclear ambitions in return for an easing of Western sanctions. Instead, Trump, reimposed sanctions, banning trade between the US and Iran.

Under Trump, the United States killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike on Iraq in 2020. 

Soleimani was considered second only to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as the most powerful person in Iran.

Aside from the Microsoft report, US intelligence officials have cited several foreign interference threats facing the US election.

mm/sms (AP, Reuters)