On Friday, September 27, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of three members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). These three Iranian citizens are accused of cyberattacks, stealing internal documents of former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign team, and disseminating them to the media.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated during the press conference announcing the indictment, “The defendants’ own statements indicate that they sought to undermine former President Trump’s campaign activities before the 2024 US presidential election. We know that Iran continues to recklessly sow division, undermine people’s confidence in the US electoral process, and promote its malicious activities.”
In a statement, Garland further mentioned, “The Department of Justice is working tirelessly to expose and counter Iran’s network attacks aimed at sowing discord, undermining confidence in our democratic system, and influencing our elections.”
The three Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members facing criminal charges are 36-year-old Masoud Jalili, 34-year-old Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, and 37-year-old Yaser Balaghi.
According to the indictment, since 2020, these three individuals and their accomplices attempted to infiltrate a wide range of email accounts, including those of the former US Ambassador to Israel, former Deputy Director of the CIA, officials from the State Department and the Department of Defense, as well as a former US Homeland Security advisor and journalists.
The latest actions by the US government also include sanctions and bounties for the capture of hackers. This is the US’s latest effort to condemn Iran’s attempts to interfere in the US elections.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on these hackers, and the State Department offered a bounty of up to $10 million to reward those providing clues leading to the capture of the accused.
According to reports from the Associated Press, the Iranian UN Mission denied the accusations, calling them “baseless and groundless,” and stating that Iran has neither the motivation nor the intention to interfere in the elections. They demanded evidence from the US and vowed to respond accordingly if the US provides such evidence.
Trump’s campaign team revealed on August 10 that they were targeted in a cyberattack, with sensitive internal documents stolen and leaked by Iranian actors. At least three news outlets – Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post – received these leaked internal documents from Trump’s campaign team. So far, these media outlets have refused to disclose details about the documents.
The indictment specifically states that the accused hackers impersonated US officials and created false email personas in an attempt to deceive the victims.
According to Politico’s report on September 12, the media outlet began receiving emails from an anonymous AOL account on July 22. This anonymous AOL email account displayed only as “Robert” and delivered a research file purportedly about Republican Vice Presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance from Trump’s campaign team. The date of this document was February 23, approximately five months before Trump selected Vance as his running mate.
US intelligence officials have stated that the cyberattacks aimed to sow division, exploit societal divides in the US, and influence the outcome of the US election.
FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in a release that the charges against the three Iranian citizens today were the result of thorough and persistent FBI investigations. He emphasized, “The behaviors outlined in the indictment are just the latest examples of Iran’s reckless actions. Therefore, today the FBI wants to send a message to the Iranian government – you and your hackers cannot hide behind a keyboard.”