(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) The Iranian government is organizing and paying American Jew-hating protesters as part of a foreign influence campaign meant to sow division across the United States right before the 2024 election.
“Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters,” Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines wrote in a rare public statement.
Iranian hackers successfully broke into a municipal system that published election results and engaged in disinformation campaigns meant to sway the results of those elections in 2020.
This year, the Islamic regime is implementing a similar playbook by using nationwide unrest over the war between Israel and Hamas to embolden anti-Israel activists who have been violently campaigning against Israel for the last nine months, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
“Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions, as we have seen them do in the past, including in prior election cycles. They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats,” Haines said.
DNI also stated that Iran “will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives.”
In March of this year, DNI said that Iran and other nations have the capabilities and desire to “conduct influence operations” meant to interfere in the upcoming presidential election.
“In the wake of Hamas’s horrifying attack on Israel on October 7, the terrorist group is once again seeking to shape the information environment to create international pressure that compels Israel to stop its operations before achieving its objectives. Reliance on influence operations is straight out of the playbook of Hamas’s chief benefactor: Iran,” the Jewish Institute for the National Security of America, a think tank, said in October 2023.
