Microsoft Report: Iran Regime Attempting to Influence Upcoming U.S. Election

The Islamic Republic is accelerating its illicit online activity for the purpose of influencing the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a report released Friday by Microsoft.

The tech company alleged that hacking groups linked to the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been spending the past months creating fake news sites and impersonating activists to spread division and misinformation to the U.S. electorate.

The summary comes as Politico reported on Saturday that their editors were sent emails from an anonymous source that contained proprietary information from the campaign of former President Donald Trump.

The internal communications, confirmed as authentic by the Trump organization, were reportedly accessed in a June 'spear phishing' attack and contained files related to the Republican Party’s vice presidential selection process.

Politico also disclosed that the sender claimed to be in possession of materials containing information on the former president’s legal cases and campaign discussions.

In addition to the incident directed at Trump’s campaign, Microsoft asserted without elaboration that the actors successfully compromised the electronic files of a government employee in a ‘swing state.’

A spokesperson from the regime’s United Nations mission denied the allegations, telling The Associated Press that their “cyber capabilities are defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces. Iran has neither the intention nor plans to launch cyberattacks. The U.S. presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”

Last month, U.S. media indicated that the county’s intelligence services are expressing growing concern that Tehran has been enhancing its efforts to assassinate Trump in retaliation for his ordering the elimination of senior IRGC official Qassem Soleimani and his past hardline stance against the theocracy.