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Iran's Efforts to Promote Gaza Protests

(TIME) Jason M. Brodsky - Iran has multiple nodes of influence that it uses to interfere in Western democratic policy debates. Tehran has been actively engaged in encouraging American and European protest activity after the Oct. 7 massacre - both physically and online. Like Russia, Iran has a long track record of attempting to create societal fissures in its adversaries. Iran has also built an extensive online disinformation apparatus that is used to both amplify content promoting its anti-American and anti-Israel worldview and aggravate political and social tensions in democratic societies. Iran's Intelligence Ministry (MOIS) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are the key implementers of these online influence campaigns. For example, the IRGC cyber group Cotton Sandstorm (operated by a company sanctioned for attempting to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election), ran an X account branded as "Jewish Peace Advocate," according to Microsoft Threat Intelligence. A pro-IRGC Telegram channel called "Resistance News Network" regularly shared posts from channels linked to U.S. college campus demonstrations. As the campus protests peaked in May, Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei welcomed American students into the Axis of Resistance, saying in an open letter that they have formed a new branch alongside Hizbullah and other terrorist groups whose flags have appeared in major Western cities. The writer is policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute.
2024-08-29 00:00:00
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