“The larger goal is to sow unrest, deepen polarization and place Iran on the same level as Russia and China as a geopolitical power,” they added.
In this context, the two officials spoke to the newspaper about Iran’s efforts to spread disinformation in the United States to influence the course of the presidential race, noting that Tehran has increased the resources it pumps into its disinformation media operations since 2022, and that government agents routinely scout Iranian universities to recruit high-level technology graduates, offer high salaries and fund research.
The two officials, described by the newspaper as familiar with “disinformation campaigns in Iran,” said that the Tehran government and the Revolutionary Guards run a network of individuals who use social media platforms to push Iranian views, some under pseudonyms. They also assign projects to Iranian technology companies and startups, some of which are not fully aware of the projects’ true purposes, they said.
Iran’s vast network of influence operatives and hackers includes front companies controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, the officials said.
U.S. officials and technology company analysts have identified an escalating campaign by Iran to influence this year’s U.S. presidential election, saying recent Iranian propaganda and disinformation efforts have become “more brazen, diverse and ambitious.”
increasing aggression
Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, recently warned that “Iran has become increasingly aggressive in its efforts to influence abroad, seeking to foment discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.”
Haynes also urged Americans to be cautious when “interacting online with accounts and actors they do not know personally.”
Her office joined the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency last month in issuing a statement noting that “Iran views this year’s election as particularly significant in terms of the impact it could have on its national security interests, increasing Tehran’s inclination to try to shape the outcome.”
The newspaper pointed out that US intelligence estimates showed that Iran had used social media in recent months to fuel protests organised by students against Israel’s war in Gaza, with agents providing financial assistance and impersonating students.
The newspaper says that Iran’s efforts aim to undermine former President Donald Trump’s campaign to return to the White House and also targeted President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris, which – according to the newspaper – indicates a broader goal of sowing internal discord and tarnishing the reputation of the democratic system in the United States more broadly in the eyes of the world.
According to leaks, Iranian agents have already succeeded this year in hacking the emails of Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, and tried to hack the Biden-Harris campaign.
Meta last month unveiled a similar effort against political campaigns on its messaging app WhatsApp.
The newspaper points out that Iran’s interest in directly influencing the US elections began to increase after Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement in 2015.
A declassified intelligence assessment from 2021 found that Iran sought to undermine Trump’s election prospects and discredit the democratic process, with the broader goal of damaging the United States’ image in the Middle East.
During the 2022 midterm elections, Iran tried to interfere, hoping to “exploit perceived social divisions,” according to another declassified intelligence report.
Experts found evidence that Iranian officials wanted to bolster nationalist groups and use social media to pit extremists against each other in 2024. Iran also considered tactics such as creating fake news agencies to interact with U.S. media and deploying special teams on social media, according to the intelligence assessment.
Tehran’s covert influence operations are largely conducted by units within the IRGC. The U.S. government has identified at least three front companies it says are controlled by the IRGC: the International Union of Virtual Media, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and Television, and the Bayan-e Rasaneh Gostar Institute.
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