The United States Director of National Intelligence revealed Tuesday that Iran in recent weeks has sought to exploit the wave of anti-Israel protests in order to stoke discord in the US.
“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters,” Avril Haines said in a statement.
The warning is likely to embolden those calling for authorities to take a harder line on the Gaza war protests that swept across college campuses toward the end of the spring semester and that have continued at other locations into the summer.
It also could expose the administration to criticism by defenders of those demonstrations, who may argue that the government is dismissing them as inauthentic.
Avril Haines sought to address this potential pushback in her Tuesday statement. “I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza. This intelligence does not indicate otherwise.
“But it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes,” the US intel chief added, urging Americans to remain vigilant when engaging with online actors they don’t know.
In May, Haines warned in congressional testimony that Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in its efforts to undermine confidence in American democratic institutions, particularly in the lead-up to presidential and congressional elections.
“They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats. It is likely they will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives,” Haines said on Tuesday.
The statement from Haines came one day after US Vice President Kamala Harris expressed some praise for the young pro-Palestinian protesters.
“They are showing exactly what the human emotion should be, as a response to Gaza. There are things some of the protesters are saying that I absolutely reject, so I don’t mean to wholesale endorse their points. But we have to navigate it. I understand the emotion behind it,” Harris told The Nation in an interview.
US President Joe Biden has at times been more critical of the protests.
“There’s a right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” Biden said in a May White House speech about the demonstrations.
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest — it’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest,” he asserted, referring to the range of actions taken by anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University, the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles, and other schools.
“There should be no place on any campus — no place in America — for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students,” he said, referring to widespread documentation of antisemitic and pro-terror expressions during the protests, before subsequently condemning all forms of discrimination.