DUBAI, October 9. /TASS/. Israel is trying to plunge the Middle East into a major armed conflict to influence the US presidential campaign, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.

"The occupying regime's haste in dragging the whole region into an ever-expanding war is primarily aimed at malignantly manipulating the US upcoming elections. And the US's security agencies are falsely accusing Iran of trying to interfere in [the] US's internal affairs! What an absurd twist of facts," Baghaei said on his X page.

On September 18, US intelligence agencies claimed that Iranian hackers had stolen internal documents from the election headquarters of Republican candidate Donald Trump and allegedly sent them to media outlets and individuals linked to current US President Joe Biden. However, Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani, dismissed these accusations as baseless, labeling the US authorities' claims as unfounded.

On September 27, the US State Department announced a $10 million reward for information about three Iranians allegedly linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who, according to Washington, tried to interfere in the US elections.

The United States presidential election will be held on November 5. Incumbent US President Joe Biden was expected to run on the Democratic Party ticket, but after his disastrous performance at the June debate with former US President Trump, he decided to quit the race and instead supported the nomination of his Vice President Kamala Harris.