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tehran trouble

Washington warned of Iranian influence in Gaza protests. Now what?

The Biden administration has offered no plans to crack down on the alleged foreign interference

Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Anti-Israel demonstrators leave a statue covered in graffiti in Lafayette Park across from the White House.

An unexpected announcement earlier this week from the top U.S. intelligence official that Iranian government-aligned actors are infiltrating, stoking and even funding anti-Israel protests in the U.S. raised alarm bells among members of Congress and foreign policy experts. 

But while Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, warned of Iran “becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts,” she included little in the way of a policy response, beyond urging “all Americans to remain vigilant as they engage online with accounts and actors they do not personally know.” 

After Haines’ warning, Biden administration officials speaking about the Iranian threat have been careful to combine their concerns with statements affirming activists’ right to protest and arguing that they have been doing so “in good faith.” None of them have raised concerns about the protesters’ conduct, despite remarks from President Joe Biden in May calling out violence and antisemitism at some campus protests. Nor have the administration officials who spoke publicly about the alert expressed fear that protesters may have been compromised by Iranian actors seeking to exert influence in the American democratic system.

“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,” Haines said. “Moreover, the freedom to express diverse views, when done peacefully, is essential to our democracy, but it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes.” 

This statement was echoed almost verbatim by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

“Americans across the political spectrum, acting in good faith, have sought to express their own independent views on the conflict in Gaza,” Jean-Pierre said. 

Kirby, when asked by a reporter to describe Iran’s tactics, responded with a similar comment: “I want to start by being very clear that we respect the right of peaceful protest, and we recognize that there’s a lot of passionate feelings about the war in Gaza,” Kirby said. “Many, many Americans are going out into the streets and making their opinions known, and we respect that. That’s what a democracy is all about, and I want to make it clear that we recognize those are genuine protests.” 

When Jewish Insider reached out to the White House on Thursday, asking how the Biden administration can be certain that the protests are, in fact, entirely genuine, a spokesperson declined to comment. 

But Kirby noted that “what’s really alarming” about Iran’s actions “is that the Iranians aren’t being transparent” — a point that seems to suggest it also isn’t possible to know if everything about the protests really is genuine.

The White House appears to be arguing that the extent of Iran’s influence operation is that Americans who genuinely care about the war in Gaza may have been duped by Iran without their knowledge. “Those who may have been influenced by Iranian information activities or even offers of financial assistance may not even know that it’s coming from Iran,” Kirby said. 

Two Democratic lawmakers told JI on Thursday that the news about Iran’s interference in the Gaza protests didn’t come as a shock. 

“I’m not surprised at all. It’s been very clear that they were organized. It wasn’t some kind of organic situation, and it was always mostly rooted in antisemitism. Of course that’s where it could be coming from,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said in response to Haines’ statement.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he wasn’t aware of the statement ahead of time but wouldn’t dispute Haines’ assessment.

“I wouldn’t be surprised by that. If I was somebody just watching from the outside and the DNI put out a statement like that, it shouldn’t be shocking,” he told JI.

Still, no one in the Biden administration has yet spoken publicly about whether Washington will respond in any way. Questions about the funding of Gaza encampments on university campuses dogged the protests this spring. Now, the White House has acknowledged that Iranian funds are reaching American protests, but it is not offering specifics as to where Iranian money is going. 

The White House spokesperson declined to comment when asked about how Biden might respond to the Iranian influence campaign. A State Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.  

Jewish Insider congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs contributed to this report.

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