KATHMANDU: The Trump campaign claimed on Saturday that the Iranian government was responsible for some of the hacking of its internal communications. The campaign sent a statement not long after Politico revealed that it had received emails from an unidentified source with real documents from within Trump's team, including private details regarding the weaknesses of running mate JD Vance.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung claimed that these documents were obtained illegally by foreign entities hostile to the U.S., aiming to interfere with the 2024 election and disrupt the democratic process. However, the campaign did not provide direct evidence linking Iran to the hack.

A study conducted by Microsoft researchers that was made public on Friday was cited by the Trump campaign. It stated that hackers connected to the Iranian government had attempted to breach the account of a senior official during a U.S. presidential campaign. The study revealed that hackers had previously taken over the account of a former political advisor in order to target the official, but it did not reveal who was behind it.

Iran's U.N. mission responded by denying any involvement, characterizing its cyber capabilities as defensive, and stating that it had no plans to meddle in the upcoming US election. This comes after earlier incidents of hostility between Trump and Iran, such as the latter's exit from the Iran Nuclear Deal and the death of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. Furthermore, Iran has refuted allegations of an Iranian conspiracy against Trump, despite unverified evidence to the contrary.