Poll meddling row: Iran summons Swiss envoy
Iran summoned the Swiss envoy on Thursday to protest against what it called “baseless” US claims that Tehran has tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election in November.
“Iran’s strong rejection of American officials’ repetitive, baseless and false claims was conveyed to the Swiss ambassador... As we have said before, it makes no difference for Iran who wins the US election,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told state TV.
Switzerland represents US interests in Iran because Washington and Tehran have no diplomatic ties.
US director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe said on Wednesday that Russia and Iran have both tried to interfere with the presidential election taking place on November 3.
Tensions have risen between long-time foes Tehran and Washington since 2018, when US President Donald Trump exited
Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal and stepped up sanctions on Tehran.
Washington had accused Iran of sending “spoofed” emails to Americans “designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage” Trump less than two weeks before the vote. According to Ratcliffe, Iran had also distributed a video that implies that people could send in fraudulent ballots, including from outside the US.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Alireza Miryousefi, called the allegations “another scenario to undermine voter confidence” in the US and said the world had seen Washington’s attempts to “question the outcome of its own elections at the highest level”.
Also, the Kremlin on Thursday denied allegations from the US that it had tried to interfere with the 2020 election, calling accusations of hacking unfounded.
Ratcliffe said both Tehran and Moscow seek to “communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos, and undermine confidence in American democracy”.
“Accusations are raining down every day. All of them are absolutely groundless, they are not based on anything,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The US announcement came after registered Democratic voters reported receiving personally addressed emails in the name of the Proud Boys militia, and from an internet domain linked to the Proud Boys.
A number of voters in Florida and other key battleground states said they had gotten the messages.
“You will vote for Trump on election day or we will come after you,” the emails said. “Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for,” they said.
US voter registration information is widely available, with some states allowing anyone to access it, while others restrict it to political parties.