'Iranian hackers' post bloodied picture of Donald Trump on US government website

5 January 2020, 14:21 | Updated: 5 January 2020, 15:43

Hackers claiming to be from Iran have posted a bloodied picture of Donald Trump on a US government website.

The website for the Federal Depository Library Program, fdlp.gov, showed a black page with a message claiming to be from the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The hack comes just two days after Iraninan General Qassem Suleimani was killed in an airstrike ordered by Mr Trump.

The message said that "martyrdom was (Suleimani’s)… reward for years of implacable efforts."

It continued: "With his departure and with God’s power, his work and path will not cease and severe revenge awaits those criminals who have tainted their filthy hands with his blood and blood of the other martyrs."

When users clicked through, the site showed a defaced image of the US President being punched in the face.

Underneath the picture, it said: "Hacked by Iran Cyber Security Group Hackers" and a claim this breach was "only a small part" of what they could achieve.

However, there is so far little evidence that suggests the cyber-attack was carried out by Iran.

A spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, said the website was taken offline as soon as the breach was noticed.

A statement said: "We are aware the website of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was defaced with pro-Iranian, anti-US messaging. At this time, there is no confirmation that this was the action of Iranian state-sponsored actors.

"The website was taken offline and is no longer accessible. CISA is monitoring the situation with FDLP and our federal partners."

Tensions in the region have since reached fever-pitch, a number of co-ordinated attacks being made on the US Embassy in Baghdad and military bases where US forces are based.

A number of injuries were reported, but no-one is thought to have died.

US President Donald Trump claimed strike was done to "stop a war", saying Soleimani "made the death of innocent people his sick passion".

He later vowed to bomb 52 sites in Iran if there are any more retaliations from Tehran.

Mr Trump tweeted: "Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently…hundreds of Iranian protesters.

"He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years.

"Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have…..targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.

"The USA wants no more threats!"