Iran influencing the 2024 elections? Some serious problems with this claim.

Mainstream media and politicians are claiming Iran is trying to influence the 2024 election, but the evidence is severely lacking.

Mainstream media outlets have been reporting that Iran has been trying to influence the 2024 election. Articles in outlets like AP, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, and Forbes have appeared recently accusing Iran of interfering in the 2024 elections. The Trump campaign has also blamed Iran for a hack and leak operation on the campaign. The problem is, all of this goes back to a single report from Microsoft written by a biased, discredited source and featuring massive evidentiary holes.

Clint Watts: Discredited neo-con

The Microsoft report cited by mainstream media and the Trump campaign to allege Iranian influence in the 2024 election is authored by Clint Watts. Watts is hardly a neutral source on the subject, along with working for the FBI, Watts has previously worked for the neocon think tank “Foreign Policy Research Institute”. Watts also worked for the “Alliance for Securing Democracy” the group behind “Hamilton 68” which the Twitter Files proved was making false claims of Russian bots on Twitter. Watts also has a long history of spreading debunked intelligence psyops. On MSNBC he spread the disproven claim that Russia was putting bounties on the heads of American troops in Afghanistan. Watts also frequently spread the debunked Trump-Russia collusion claim on MSNBC. In Foreign Affairs magazine Watts co-authored an article advocating the CIA arm jihadists fighting Assad in Syria saying that Ahrar Al-Sham was “An al Qaeda–Linked Group Worth Befriending”. A 2017 investigation into Watts from journalist Max Blumenthal found that Watts in the past has spread evidence-free claims about Russian bots. For example, he claims that the backlash against his pro-Al Qaeda article and Black Lives Matter activists was backed by “Russian Bots” without evidence. Given Watts's associations with neocon think tanks and history of spreading deceptions and false claims of Russian bots, anything coming from him should be met with heavy skepticism but the issues do not stop there.

NeoCon/ zionist propaganda

The 2024 Microsoft report alleging Iranian influence first links to a 2023 Microsoft report on the same subject. The 2023 report makes it clear that the author is not neutral but supports the proxy war in Ukraine, genocide in Gaza, and more belligerence towards China, saying:

The 2024 US presidential election cycle will define the foreign policy future of the US in several major conflicts. For the Kremlin, disrupting American support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is of critical importance. Today, US support to Israel amid the Israel Gaza War acts as a buffer to Iran’s potential escalation of a wider regional conflict. Meanwhile, China's increasing aggressiveness in the Taiwan Strait could potentially escalate a future conflict in East Asia, which would in part be shaped by US commitments to preserve stability in the Strait. For Russia, Iran, and China, the next US president will define the direction of conflict — whether wars might occur, or peace might prevail. MTAC expects Russia, China, and Iran are unlikely to sit out next year’s contest — the stakes are simply too high

This biased language such as claiming America’s support for the genocidal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza is a “buffer against Iran”, that supporting the disastrous proxy war in Ukraine is important, or that the U.S. wants “stability” in Taiwan clearly shows the author supports the American empire and funding proxy wars around the world. This biased language shows the author has a vested interest in pushing “election interference” narratives to further demonize official enemy countries and censor dissenting voices. Watts also gives away his pro zionist bias by claiming Iran is influencing Israel’s elections. In the report’s chart detailing alleged Iranian influence operations four out of the six claims are alleged influence operations in Israel.

Pictured above, a chart on supposed “Iranian influence” featured in the report.

The report accuses Iranians of “Undermining” bloodsoaked genocidal war criminal Netenyahu and “undermining election legitimacy” in the apartheid state of Israel.

Influence operation or clickbait farm?

Much of the report’s evidence for 2024 election interference relies on claims that Iran is creating fake websites masquerading as American news outlets. The report claims the websites Nio Thinker and Savaanah Times were created by Iran to influence the 2024 election. The report gives no evidence linking these websites to Iran, but even if they are originating from Iran, their content makes it highly unlikely that they are some sort of influence operation. A visit to the website Nio Thinker shows it is a democratic party clickbait farm featuring pro-Kamala Harris posts and articles opposed to Trump and J.D. Vance. However, a look at some of its other content makes it very implausible that it is some sort of Iranian influence operation. Articles have appeared on the website supportive of the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine, something you wouldn’t expect from an Iranian influence outlet given that Iran and Russia are allies. Another article on the website argues for Joe Biden to be more aggressive to Iran. Some quotes from the article are:

The killing of three U.S. troops and wounding of dozens more on Sunday by Iran-backed militants is piling political pressure on President Joe Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran

American forces in the Middle East have been attacked more than 150 times by Iran-backed forces in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and off the coast of Yemen since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.

The attack on Sunday has complicated Biden’s diplomatic efforts, as he faces calls from some lawmakers and analysts to take a tougher stance against Iran and its proxies.

Some have urged Biden to launch a military strike against Iran or its allies, either in retaliation for the attack or as a deterrent for future attacks.

Others have suggested that Biden should expand the scope of the sanctions on Iran and its partners, or increase the U.S. military presence and support for its allies in the region.

The idea that an Iranian intelligence operation to influence American views would include an article that advocates Biden to take a tougher stance on Iran and ramp up strikes and sanctions is unlikely. The use of pro-U.S. government language like “Iran-backed militants” or “Israel-Hamas war” would be very unlikely to appear in an Iranian intelligence-backed outlet.

The idea of these websites being Iranian influence operations becomes even more absurd when looking at the content of Savaanah Times. In one article appearing on the Savaanah Times website titled “The Iranian Regime’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel: A Clear Act of War,” the following passages are featured:

Iran’s recent assault on Israel represents a brazen and unprecedented escalation in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Iran’s willingness to launch such a massive and coordinated strike against a sovereign nation underscores the regime’s reckless disregard for regional stability and its determination to sow chaos and destruction in pursuit of its ideological agenda.

The fact that Iran chose to launch the attack directly from its own territory is particularly alarming. This not only demonstrates the regime’s brazenness but also its confidence in its ability to act with impunity. By conducting the assault from its own soil, Iran seeks to send a clear message of defiance to its adversaries and assert its dominance in the region. However, this reckless display of aggression only serves to further isolate Iran on the world stage and undermine its claims to legitimacy.

Iran’s proxy network, comprised of groups such as Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Houthis, forms a complex web of destabilization across the Middle East. These proxies serve as instruments of Iran’s foreign policy, enabling the regime to exert influence, spread its revolutionary ideology, and advance its strategic objectives in the region

The idea that an Iranian intelligence cutout would feature articles claiming Iran is causing an “unprecedented escalation”, is a “reckless regime with a determination to sow chaos”, and is showing a “reckless display of aggression” is ridiculous. And this is not the only blatantly anti-Iran article to appear on the Website, articles have appeared on the website claiming democrats are “emboldening Iran”, supporting Israeli strikes on Iran, defending Israel’s assignation of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and attacking the Houthis. The idea that Iranian intelligence is behind a website that openly demonizes Iran and its geo-political allies while defending Israel is beyond absurd. Even if these outlets are coming out of Iran, they are clearly clickbait farms, looking for views with eye-grabbing headlines. The American/pro Isreal Bias featured on “Nio Thinker” and the blatantly pro-neo-con propaganda that appears on “Savannah Times” also brings up questions as to who is really behind these clickbait farms.

Iranian hacking

The report also claims with zero evidence that Iranian-linked hacker groups tried to “log in to an account belonging to a former presidential candidate.” on June 13th. This is what Trump used to back up his claim that Iran hacked his campaign and disseminated emails about JD Vance. But the report it comes from is written by a discredited neo-con ideologue who accused blatantly anti-Iran websites of being Iranian propaganda. Most likely this evidence-free claim is a deception as well.

Iran-Gate replaces Russigate

This widely cited report was issued by a neo-con Russiagate fraud who took part in the Hamilton 68 scam that lied about Russian bots influencing Twitter. This new report is just a rebranding of the debunked Russiagate narrative, replacing Russia with Iran. Just like Russiagate, these Iranian interference narratives will be used to ramp up tensions with Iran and censor dissenting voices who will undoubtedly be wrongfully accused of being Iranian bots.