AI is often used – sometimes real actors are used.
Despite the close ties between Russia and Iran, however, the countries seem to have different preferences about who they want to see become the next president of the United States. Sources within the US intelligence service stated on Monday for Voice of America that both nations are trying to influence the outcome through disinformation campaigns – but in different directions.
– We continue to see increased activities as we approach election day. They realize that American citizens have already started voting and these operations could have a bigger impact as we get closer, a senior official told VoA.
Triplicated attempts
Another intelligence official warns that there has been a threefold increase in disinformation campaigns in connection with the US election.
Apart from China, which mainly conducts disinformation campaigns around questions about Taiwan, it is about two external actors who have both increased their efforts to influence the outcome of the election.
Russia reportedly continues to run influence campaigns aimed at boosting the chances of Donald Trump, while also trying to damage the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Iran’s focus on helping Harris by hurting Trump. The intelligence sources point to the ongoing “hack-and-leak operation” against the Trump campaign, which has been traced to three agents working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Close ties with Putin
The explanation for the countries’ different preferences is simple. Donald Trump has for several years been tough on Iran but much more friendly to Russia, compared to Joe Biden’s administration.
Last week, Biden stated that Israel has the right to strike back against Iran’s attack — as long as they didn’t “hit nuclear targets,” to which Trump commented:
– Is that what you want to meet? That is the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons, the power of nuclear weapons. When they asked him that question, the answer should have been: “Hit the nukes first and worry about the rest later,” according to Newsweek.
Trump’s ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin are also well-known. Putin has been called a “genius” by Trump, among other things, and the two leaders are said to have spoken to each other seven times in recent years, which was revealed this week by a former Trump associate in Bob Woodward’s book “War”.