US federal authorities are moving to charge individuals allegedly connected to the Iranian government for a hack-and-leak operation against Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the Washington Post reports.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the news outlet reported that the charges could come in a matter of days.
The Washington Post reports that the FBI investigation has focused on an online persona known as "Robert," suspected of acting on behalf of the Iranian government. This “individual” is accused of distributing stolen data from Trump advisers' email accounts to news organizations.
Last month, the FBI and US intelligence agencies confirmed that Iran was responsible for recent attempted hacks into the Trump and Biden-Harris presidential campaigns.
According to AP, which is also reporting the impending criminal charges by the Justice Department, the aim of the hack was to influence or interfere with the outcome of the November presidential election.
On Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department’s top national security official, told reports on Thursday in New York City that Iran “is making a greater effort to influence this year’s election than it has in prior election cycles and that Iranian activity is growing increasingly aggressive as this election nears.”
Last month, the head of DisinfoWatch told Iran International that as Iran appears to have stepped up its targeting of both presidential campaigns, there also seems to be coordination between Tehran and Moscow's information operations.
“The US and all western democracies need to be paying close attention and exposing them. The combined information and influence operations of Iran, Russia and China represent a serious threat to all western democracies - which we cannot afford to ignore,” Marcus Kolga said.
Trump’s campaign shared last month that it had been hacked and alleged that Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents.
In August, Meta reported potential hacking attempts on the WhatsApp accounts of US officials by Iranian actors amidst growing concerns over Tehran’s interference in US elections. These officials were associated with both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The company attributed these attempts to APT42, an Iranian hacker group widely believed to be linked to an intelligence division within Iran's military. This group has a history of conducting invasive surveillance operations, often targeting political figures and activists abroad.
In relation to the latest hack-and-leak attack, Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post were reportedly given access to confidential material from inside the Trump campaign, with Politico reporting that that it began receiving emails on July 22 from an anonymous account.
The AOL email account, identified as "Robert," sent what looked like a research dossier that appeared to have been compiled by the campaign on Ohio Senator JD Vance, who became the Republican vice-presidential nominee. The document, dated February 23, was created almost five months before Trump announced Vance as his running mate.
So far, the AP reports, each outlet has refused to reveal any details about what it received.
Saeed Chalandari, CEO of Imam Khomeini Airport City, estimated that the newly imposed fee could generate up to twenty trillion rials (over 33 million dollars). Chalandari defended the move as a step towards implementing Iran's Seventh Development Plan, insisting that it is common practice in airports across the world.
The fee targets travelers over the age of two. Hormatollah Rafiei, head of the Association of Iranian Travel Agencies condemned the latest attempt at revenue generation, calling it “reaching into people’s pockets.” He accused the government of enabling "systematic extortion" in the travel industry, warning that this will only empower airlines and travel agencies to raise prices, further burdening Iranian travelers.
“This decision is opening the door to even more profiteering in the tourism sector,” Rafiei noted, pointing out that in addition to this new charge, Iranians are already paying departure taxes, airport fees, and inflated ticket prices.
It is not the first time Iranians have been forced to contend with excessive travel fees as a pipeline of funds. In 2019, the Iranian Parliament imposed a departure tax meaning citizens would pay 5,200,000 rials ($9) for their first trip abroad, and between 7,800,000 ($13) and over ten million rials ($16) for subsequent trips.
The government's defenders argue that these fees are necessary for development, with Chalandari comparing them to charges imposed in airports across Europe amid Iran’s crumbling infrastructure, inefficient bureaucracy, and rampant corruption.
Social media platforms have become the battleground for a public response. Many Iranians mockingly referred to the fee as "forced payment," highlighting the absurdity of funding "development" in a country where mismanagement has brought nearly all aspects of life to a standstill. One frustrated user on X remarked, “Who doesn’t know there’s no development?” Another sarcastically commented, "Soon enough, they’ll pass a law requiring everyone traveling abroad to bring gifts for parliament members."
The Iranian government’s attempt to draw parallels with practices at airports in countries like Turkey or Saudi Arabia rings hollow for many. "Exactly which development are they talking about?" asked one social media user, alluding to the country's lack of progress in providing basic services.
This new fee comes at a time when travel for most Iranians is already a luxury as inflation and unemployment skyrocket and the currency’s value continues to plummet. One in three Iranians now live below the poverty line, meaning many of those who travel are among the country's wealthy elite.
Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently reported that over 438,000 Iranians entered Turkey as tourists in the first two months of 2024, where they can enter visa free. According to GlobalData’s 2023 Travel & Tourism in Iran report, the most popular destinations for Iranians include Turkey, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
But traveling abroad is increasingly unaffordable for tens of millions of Iranians, many of whom have taken to social media to call this €10 fee “the final straw” amid the worst economic times since the founding of the Islamic Republic.
The target of the mission was believed to be an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) site responsible for the development of ballistic missiles and drones, as well as providing logistical support to Iran's terror proxies including Hezbollah, wrote the Times of Israel.
The operation saw a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted military sites in central Syria late Sunday, leaving at least 14 people dead and 43 others wounded. Fires erupted at several locations, with local Syrian media initially reporting that a scientific research center in Masyaf had been hit, a site long linked to the Syrian regime's manufacture of chemical weapons and precision missiles in collaboration with Iranian forces.
The recent reports suggest that Israeli ground forces were involved for the first time in the operation. According to the opposition-affiliated Syria TV network, Israeli helicopters hovered above Syrian soil as special forces rappelled down ropes to the ground. Violent clashes reportedly ensued, leading to the deaths of several Syrian troops, and the capture of two to four Iranian personnel. On Thursday, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency denied reports that any Iranians have been captured in Syria.
Channel 12 news cited researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis, who reported via Twitter that Israeli forces not only engaged in combat but successfully entered the facility, seizing critical equipment and documents.
Before retreating, they reportedly planted explosives, ensuring the complete destruction of the plant. Koulouriotis also stated that roads leading to the facility were targeted with airstrikes to prevent Syrian reinforcements from arriving in time.
In addition to the Iranian weapons facility, a Russian communications center was reportedly targeted during the operation. Al Hurra, a US-owned network, echoed the reports, noting the intensity of the strikes and the unusually high death toll.
The Masyaf region, located west of Hama, has long been associated with Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias, and has been the site of numerous airstrikes attributed to Israel in recent years.
Home to the Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS or SSRC), it is a facility Western officials believe is used to manufacture chemical weapons, including sarin gas. Syria has consistently denied the accusations.
While the precise details of the raid remain unconfirmed and Israel has yet to comment on the reports, the operation aligns with Israel's ongoing strategy of targeting Iranian military infrastructure in Syria.
Israel has been vocal about its intent to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in Syria, and strikes on IRGC-linked sites are seen as part of this broader strategy.
The raid also underscores the growing complexity of the conflict in Syria, where multiple actors—including the Syrian regime, Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia—maintain overlapping interests and military assets.
The revelations were reported by the Post on Thursday. One particular case involved Pouria Zeraati, an exiled Iranian journalist working for Iran International, a London-based satellite news channel that broadcasts to millions in Iran, wrote the Washington Post. In March 2023, Zeraati was ambushed and stabbed outside his home in Wimbledon by attackers who were not Iranian nationals and had no apparent ties to Iran’s intelligence services.
Instead, British investigators revealed that the assailants were Eastern European criminals hired by Tehran, underscoring how Iran has started outsourcing its plots to foreign criminals in order to avoid Western scrutiny.
“We’re not dealing with the usual suspects,” said Matt Jukes, head of counterterrorism policing in the UK. “What we’ve got is a hostile state actor that sees the battlefield as being without borders, and individuals in London are as legitimate as targets as if they were in Iran.” The attack on Zeraati, which he survived after being stabbed four times, was a warning to critics of the Iranian government that its reach is global, and its threats deadly.
According to the article, for years, Iran has been one of the world’s most determined practitioners of “transnational repression,” a term used to describe the actions of governments that use violence, intimidation, and surveillance against their own citizens abroad.
However, its reliance on criminal proxies, gangs, mafia organizations, and narco-traffickers, marks a shift in how it carries out these missions. By outsourcing assassination attempts and abductions, the Islamic Republic shields itself from direct blame and makes it harder for Western intelligence agencies to connect the dots.
The use of criminal syndicates has allowed Iran to carry out operations with relative ease. Zeraati’s attackers, for example, passed through security at Heathrow Airport, tracked him for days, and fled the country hours after the attack. Tehran’s outsourcing model has included groups such as the Russian mob network “Thieves in Law,” and the Hells Angels, known for their involvement in drug trafficking and organized crime across North America and Europe, added the report.
In some cases, these hired hands have been instructed to carry out grotesque acts of violence, such as a failed plot in Maryland where Hells Angels members were contracted to assassinate a former Iranian military officer living in the United States.
In July 2022, a gunman appeared at the Brooklyn home of Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad, later identified as Khalid Mehdiyev, a member of the sprawling criminal network known as "Thieves in Law." This organization operates under a mafia-style code of honor to which its members are strictly bound.
Mehdiyev was arrested after being stopped for a traffic violation near Alinejad’s residence. Upon searching his vehicle, police discovered an AK-47, 66 rounds of ammunition, and a ski mask, according to a US indictment.
Iran’s partnership with the Hells Angels and other criminal gangs is partly born out of necessity. According to Western officials, the government’s own operatives face increasing scrutiny and surveillance from intelligence services, limiting their ability to conduct missions abroad. By turning to these criminal groups, the Islamic Republic circumvents the obstacles while tapping into networks that are already embedded in the West.
In 2021, US officials uncovered a plot involving two Hells Angels members hired to kill an Iranian defector and his wife in Maryland. Their orders, originating from an Iranian heroin kingpin named Naji Sharifi Zindashti, included instructions to make the killing especially brutal. One hitman was told to “erase his head from his torso.” While this plot failed after the assassins were caught, it highlights how far Iran is willing to go to silence those it sees as traitors.
Zindashti, a central figure in Iran’s outsourcing of assassinations, has been described as a “Pablo Escobar-type” drug trafficker. His operations span continents, and his criminal empire has become deeply intertwined with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). He is believed to have orchestrated multiple killings and kidnappings on behalf of Tehran, including the 2020 abduction and execution of Habib Chaab, an Iranian-Swedish political activist.
According to the Washington Post, these outsourced plots have extended far beyond Iranian exiles. Iran has also been implicated in attacks and threats against US and Israeli officials, Jewish communities in Europe, and LGBTQ+ activists. In 2022, a Pakistani man with ties to Iran attempted to hire a hitman to assassinate American political figures, possibly including former President Donald Trump. The US Justice Department has repeatedly warned that Iran is the most dangerous state sponsor of transnational repression, with its lethal tactics being carried out at unprecedented levels.
Despite Iran’s denials, Western intelligence services have compiled extensive evidence linking the Islamic Republic to these attacks. Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has used violence to suppress dissent, but the scale of its current campaign is without precedent. “We’re seeing a major escalation in lethal plotting from a government that has used this tactic from the outset,” said Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert at the Washington Institute.
