Iran’s supreme leader authorized infowar campaign during US election
Hezbollah and Russia also spread disinformation to try to influence the 2020 presidential election, a newly released US intelligence report says.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei likely approved Tehran’s effort to sway the 2020 presidential election in the United States, according to "high-confidence" US intelligence report released today.
Tehran’s “multi-pronged” disinformation campaign sought to undercut the reelection of President Donald Trump largely via social media, according to the report compiled by the office of the national intelligence director, Avril Haines.
Iranian cyberactors also launched a fake email campaign posing as right-wing Proud Boy activists who threatened Democratic Party voters in several US states, an effort revealed last year by John Ratcliffe when he was director of national intelligence.
Iranian personnel ramped up the generation of thousands of fake social media accounts, sent phishing emails to US officials and political campaign members and sought to exploit vulnerabilities on the election websites of US states. Most notably, Iranian hackers obtained voter data but did not appear to use the information in its disinformation campaign.
