U.S. intelligence says Iran behind efforts to infiltrate Trump, Harris presidential campaigns

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. intelligence community said Monday that Iran was behind a recent hack of Donald Trump 's presidential campaign and efforts to infiltrate the presidential campaign of the Democratic Party.

The confirmation came in a joint statement from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as the presidential race nears the general election on Nov. 5 when the U.S. public will choose between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

The agencies have warned during the election cycle that Iran was employing efforts to influence the presidential contest, and on Monday said they have "observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity" targeting the U.S. public and the two presidential campaigns.

"This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump's campaign, which the IC attributes to Iran," the security agencies said in the brief statement.

"The IC is confident that the Iranians have through social engineering and other efforts sought access to individuals with direct access to the presidential campaigns of both political parties."

The agencies said Iran's intent was "to influence the U.S. election process."

The statement confirms reports the Trump campaign on Aug. 10 said some of its internal communications had been pilfered by foreign sources. The campaign was reportedly infiltrated through a spear-phishing effort targeting a high-ranking official in Trump's campaign.

A spear-phishing attack attempts to steal sensitive information from gaining access to a computer system through sending messages that are spoofed to appear legitimate, according to the DNI .

Days later, the Harris' presidential campaign said it was warned by the FBI it had also been targeted.

The statement from U.S. intelligence community did not elaborate on the attacks but said Iran and also Russia has employed these tactics not just in the United States during this and prior federal election cycles but also worldwide.

"Iran seeks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions," the agencies said.

"Iran has furthermore demonstrated a longstanding interest in exploiting societal tensions through various means, including through the use of cyber operations to attempt to gain access to sensitive information related to U.S. elections."

Iran has denied the allegations through its mission in the United Nations. In a statement to The New York Times, it said: "The Iranian government neither possesses nor harbors any intent or motive to interfere in the United States presidential election."