(NewsNation) — The U.S. intelligence community says Iran is becoming a more urgent threat as new reports indicate it will be the most prominent foreign adversary threatening the upcoming presidential election.
This coincides with the recent hack of former President Donald Trump’s campaign emails, which campaign representatives blamed on Iran. On Saturday, Trump’s team revealed sensitive internal emails had been hacked and leaked to several reporters.
“Tehran wasn’t just hoping to spread chaos, they said, but aiming to harm Donald Trump’s candidacy, as it haphazardly sought to do four years ago,” The Wall Street Journal said in a new report Monday.
Iran has denied any involvement in the recent hack.
On Thursday, Microsoft put Iran’s alleged election interference in the spotlight, saying it is using influence campaigns to try to sway swing voters.
“We believe this group may be setting itself up for activities that are even more extreme, including intimidation or inciting violence against political figures or groups, with the ultimate goals of inciting chaos, undermining authorities, and sowing doubt about election integrity,” Microsoft’s report stated.
U.S. agencies have “observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid” increased tensions with the U.S., an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said during a press briefing.
Meanwhile, the White House put out a statement strongly condemning “any foreign government or entity who attempts to interfere in our electoral process or seeks to undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.”