Iran is targeting Americans amid Gaza war protests, US intelligence chief warns

WASHINGTON – Agents of the Iranian government have worked to influence American protests against the war in Gaza, a top U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday, in one of the most stark warnings yet about foreign meddling amid demonstrations that rocked the nation this spring.

The director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, said people working for Iran have “opportunistically” inserted themselves in the protest movement via social media and other cyber activities, posing as activists online and promoting and even funding public demonstrations.

“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,” Haines said in a statement. “But it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes.”

The statement, which was framed as part of an ongoing set of updates about election security, did not identify specific groups or protests that federal authorities believed to be subject to Iranian pressure. But security and terrorism experts said the statement aligned with Iran’s role in the larger picture of international intelligence, and with prior reporting about groups involved in the protests. 

As USA TODAY reported in May, at least one group that was active in student protest camps, American Muslims for Palestine, is led by a man who previously worked with organizations that were prosecuted and held liable for direct financial support to Hamas. American Muslims for Palestine said it had no ties to Hamas, and denied any close link to the earlier organizations.

Even a small presence of foreign actors in college protests has the potential to fuel further rifts, experts said. 

“Most foreign campaigns have had little influence in practice,” said Daniel Byman, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan policy research center. 

“However, even if the impact is small,” Byman said in an email, “it can increase U.S. divisions at a time when U.S. public opinion is already highly polarized.” 

Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University, said most protesters are free of any foreign support, certain countries undoubtedly have an interest in them. Some, such as Russia and China, are mainly interested in sowing dissent inside the U.S., while others are interested in both U.S. turmoil and support for Palestinian issues. 

“Iran falls in the latter category,” Vidino said, “and it is not to be dismissed that Tehran has long been a supporter of Hamas and that some of the organizations that have played a role in the U.S. campus protests have links to Hamas.”   

In a news briefing later that day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated Haines’ message, emphasizing the importance of Americans' right to express their views while also highlighting the U.S. government's responsibility to warn the public about foreign influences. 

“This is important to help Americans guard against efforts by foreign powers to take advantage of or co-opt their legitimate protest activities,” Jean-Pierre said.  

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Public demonstrations both for and against the Israel-Hamas war grew quickly after Oct. 7 when Hamas fighters raided Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 240 people hostage. Israel invaded the Gaza strip in response to the attacks, but public outcry grew along with the reported civilian death toll – though the data cannot be independently confirmed, reports now put it at more than 30,000 people. Campus protests surged this spring as demonstrators called for a cease-fire and an end to support for Israel. 

The director of national intelligence oversees the U.S. government’s community of 18 different intelligence organizations and advises the president and others on national security. The role emerged from a push to reform the federal intelligence system after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Biden nominated Haines, the first woman to hold the role, in 2020, and she was confirmed in 2021.