US charges three Iranians for hacking Trump campaign

WASHINGTON— The United States filed charges this Friday against three Iranians for allegedly hacking the campaign of Republican White House candidate Donald Trump, the Department of Justice reported.

At the same time, the State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million for information about these three men, suspected of being linked to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic.

In addition, the US Treasury imposed economic sanctions on seven people, including one of the accused.

This alleged computer hacking is part of “Iran’s attempts to sow discord and undermine confidence in the US electoral system,” Attorney General and Secretary of Justice Merrick Garland said at a press conference.

“The message from the US government is clear: it is the American people, not a foreign power, who decide the outcome of our elections, not Iran and its malicious cyber actions,” he said.

“Not Russia” and “not China,” Garland insisted, referring to the interference attempts attributed to these two countries by Washington.

The indictment made public this Friday covers three Iranian citizens “employed by the Guardians of the Revolution”, who as of May targeted the “presidential campaign 1”, in reference to Donald Trump, whom it does not name.

“The defendants have made clear their desire to undermine former President Trump’s 2024 election campaign,” Garland said.

This hacking offensive was sponsored “by the Iranian government,” the director of the US federal police (FBI), Christopher Wray, said in a statement.

They are formally accused of computer hacking, supporting “terrorism”, electronic fraud and identity theft..

The Revolutionary Guards have been on the US blacklist of “foreign terrorist organizations” since 2019.

According to the charges, these three Iranians are experienced cyber hackers who since January 2020 have been participating in a vast operation with multiple objectives: hacking data and information on US policy in the Middle East and advancing retaliation plans for the death of General Qasem Soleimani.

This Revolutionary Guards officer, architect of Iranian military operations in the Middle East, died on January 3, 2020 in a drone attack in Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump.

In recent months, cyber hackers have mainly attacked the campaign of the Republican candidate.

After using phishing operations to access the email accounts of several members of the campaign, they stole information about the preparations for the June presidential debate and Donald Trump’s possible running mates, according to the same source.