WASHINGTON — Former Vice President US and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday vowed to hold Iran accountable for apparent Iranian meddling in the election.

“Now we learn that Iran is involved. They will pay a price if I’m elected,” Biden said. “They’re interfering with American sovereignty.”

Biden made the remarks in response to a question from moderator Kristen Welker during the national security section of the presidential debate.

talked about apparent Iranian meddling in the election at the final presidential debate on Thursday night.

During the national security section of the debate, moderator Kristen Welker from NBC asked the candidates about reports that Iran, Russia and China are interfering in the Nov. 3 election. Biden answered the question first, saying he would hold Iran accountable.

“Now we learn that Iran is involved. They will pay a price if I’m elected,” Biden said. “They’re interfering with American sovereignty.”

The allegations of Iran disrupting the US election stem from emails sent to voters earlier this week. On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that Iran was behind the emails, which the Iranian government denied.

On Thursday, US Treasury designated five Iranian entities for attempting to influence elections

In a statement, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said: "The Iranian regime has targeted the United States’ electoral process with brazen attempts to sow discord among the voting populace by spreading disinformation online and executing malign influence operations aimed at misleading US voters. Components of the Government of Iran, disguised as news organizations or media outlets, have targeted the United States in order to subvert US democratic processes.”

“The Iranian regime uses false narratives and other misleading content to attempt to influence US elections,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

“This Administration is committed to ensuring the integrity of the US election system and will continue to counter efforts from any foreign actor that threatens our electoral processes,” Mnuchin added. — Agencies