US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he disagrees with federal investigators who believe a cyber attack on Minnesota's water systems originated from Iran, blaming state officials instead.
It comes after The New York Times reported that infrastructure at several sites in the Midwestern state had been targeted by a hack believed to have originated from Iran.
Mr Trump, a vocal critic of Minnesota's Democratic politicians, including Governor Tim Walz, put the blame elsewhere.
“We heard in Minnesota there was a cyber attack, and they blame it on Iran,” he told reporters. “I don't think so, I think I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent.”
The state's water infrastructure, as of writing, does not seem to have been affected, though Minnesota and federal authorities are continuing to investigate.
Democratic Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar addressed the issue on Thursday.
“I’ve requested a briefing from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on the ongoing investigation and the potential involvement of foreign actors,” Ms Klobuchar said, adding that she had been in touch with state officials to make sure they had the resources necessary to deal with the apparent hacks.
"Protecting our critical infrastructure and the safety of Minnesotans remains a top priority.”
The Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Agency (Cisa) issued a warning on Thursday about potential cyber attacks against critical US digital systems.
“We are seeing increased targeting of programmable logic controllers in the water and wastewater systems sector,” Cisa posted on X, referring to industrial computers known as PLCs. The agency urged utility operators to follow instructions from federal authorities to minimise the risks of a hack.
Since the war began in February, cyber teams in Iran as well as hacking groups sympathetic to Tehran's cause have attempted to hack prominent US figures, businesses and organisations.
In March, Handala, an Iran-linked hacker group, infiltrated FBI director Kash Patel's personal email and posted emails and photos it had retrieved.
Around that same time, Handala admitted that it was behind the hacking of an American medical technology firm, Stryker, that caused thousands of the company's devices to essentially become useless.
A few months ago, the FBI warned that Iran-linked hackers were attacking critical US infrastructure, detailing several attacks on PLCs, which are often used by water and electricity utility companies.
“These attacks have led to diminished PLC functionality, manipulation of display data and, in some cases, operational disruption and financial loss,” the FBI's cyber division said on X in April.
As far back as 2025, officials warned that Iran was doubling down on efforts to hack US computer systems.
FBI assistant director Brett Leatherman highlighted these concerns during a discussion hosted the George Washington University’s Programme on Extremism.
“If you use cyber weapons to destroy infrastructure, you’re now destroying information that a sovereign nation depends on,” Mr Leatherman said. “That tends to be a red line.”
