Tehran Tries to Take Out Trump

What Russia did to Hillary Clinton in 2016, Tehran is now attempting against Donald Trump – but even worse

The Islamic Republic of Iran really dislikes Donald Trump. During his presidency, Trump cancelled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Obama’s cherished Iran Deal), inflicted tough sanctions on the mullah regime, partnered meaningfully with Gulf states against Iran, and pushed back on Tehran’s terrorism abroad. Above all, Trump ordered the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ top spymaster and arch-terrorist for decades.

It's not difficult to understand why Tehran doesn’t want a second Trump term in the White House. But how far are the mullahs and the IRGC willing to go to prevent that?

There’s no doubt that the Iranian regime is working to hurt Trump’s chances of reelection. Iranian intelligence tried this in 2020, though the impact of those influence operations was difficult to assess. Nevertheless, the Intelligence Community concluded with “high confidence” that “Iran carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump’s reelection prospects—though without directly promoting his rivals—undermine public confidence in the electoral process and US institutions, and sow division and exacerbate societal tensions in the US.”

They’re back at it. IC officials are warning that Iranian intelligence is working against Trump in our current election cycle. As the IC phrased it delicately, “Iran is continuing efforts to fuel distrust in U.S. political institutions and increase social discord. Since our last update, the IC has observed Tehran working to influence the presidential election, probably because Iranian leaders want to avoid an outcome they perceive would increase tensions with the United States.”

In terms of unclassified information, a recent deep-dive by Microsoft analysts determined that Tehran was attempting to influence American voters by creating fake news websites disseminating talking points such as Trump is an “opioid-pilled elephant in the MAGA china shop” and a “raving mad litigiosaur,” Top-shelf propaganda, this is not. Nevertheless, Tehran’s intent is clear and Iran is now a recurring counterintelligence threat to U.S. elections, as Russia and China have been for many years.