US intelligence officials have confirmed that Iran was responsible for the recent hacking of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The FBI and other federal agencies stated in a joint release that Iran aimed to create discord and undermine confidence in American democratic institutions through this interference.

Earlier in the month, the Trump campaign accused Iran of hacking into their internal communications, which Iranian officials denied. The campaign reported that the attack involved a spear-phishing email designed to appear legitimate and trick recipients into clicking on a malicious link.

The intelligence community affirmed that Iran had attempted to gain access to individuals associated with both major political parties’ presidential campaigns through social engineering and other tactics. This activity, including data theft and its subsequent disclosure, was intended to influence the US election process.

The statement also corroborated earlier reports that Iran had tried to hack into US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign. The Harris campaign confirmed it was targeted by an unsuccessful spear-phishing attempt last week.

The agencies involved in the statement, which include the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, noted that such tactics are not new. Both Russia and Iran have used similar methods in past US elections.

It is not yet clear what information, if any, was stolen during the hack. Trump claimed that only publicly available information was compromised. However, officials pointed out that Iran’s objective was to influence the election outcome due to its perceived impact on its national security interests. The US agencies reported an increase in aggressive Iranian activities during this election cycle.

Microsoft has recently reported “significant influence activity” by groups associated with Iran, and Google’s data indicates that both Trump’s and the Biden campaigns were targeted by Iranian hackers before Biden withdrew from the presidential race last month.