TEHRAN- With the U.S. public debate replete with pro-Palestine sentiments, the American government seems to have found a new way to quash dissenting views: Linking protests to foreign governments.

In an official statement on July 9, Director of U.S. National Intelligence Avril Haines leveled accusations against Iran of instigating protests inside the U.S. regarding the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip. 

“Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions, as we have seen them do in the past, including in prior election cycles,” Haines said in the statement, adding, “They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats. It is likely they will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives.”

It then alleged, “In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.”

To begin with, the top intelligence official of the U.S. offered no evidence for her accusations. These kinds of unfounded allegations are neither new nor surprising given the U.S. track record of projecting its malign activities on the Iranian government.  

In recent months, university campuses across the United States and the rest of the world have witnessed a wave of protests demanding an immediate halt to U.S. backing for Israel’s aggression against civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave. In some cases, police violently cracked down on protesters while in some other cases negotiated agreements put an end to protests. 

Despite the protests subsiding in recent months, high-level efforts to dismantle the student-led movement have intensified as evidenced by Haines' move to begin publishing statements against the so-called Iranian influence activities. The statement said Haines will be publishing “regular updates” ahead of the Presidential and congressional elections this year. Interestingly, they started off with the targeting of the student movement defending the Palestinians' plight, indicating the urgency of the matter for the corridors of power in Washington.

This is while the protests in the U.S. have begun in prestigious university campuses where people with high education credentials led the demonstrations. Haines’ statement gives the impression that the protests erupted among plebs where a foreign country can easily swindle them into staking their future careers on defending Palestine. Students and professors taking part in the protests faced dire employment threats from pro-Israel circles of financial and political powers.

The pro-Palestine protests are in the U.S. intelligence community’s crosshairs at a time when the U.S. government has a dark history of fomenting unrest and instability in other countries, including most recently in Iran.  

In the fall of 2022, a wave of unrest swept Iran following the death of a young Iranian girl who died a few days after collapsing in a police station. Iranian officials quickly moved to address the demands of early protesters including by forming a fact-finding committee that probed the matter thoroughly. The U.S. and its allies moved to turn Iran’s protests into violent riots by pledging support for the “protestors.” This support was by no means confined to political and diplomatic statements. It included material support as evidenced by the U.S. government’s move to authorize the use of Starlink satellite internet in Iran. This was a flagrant violation of Iran’s sovereignty that elicited no criticism from Washington's allies. 

In comparison, Iran never intervened in U.S. internal affairs. The only thing Iran did was voice political support for protestors which is a common practice in the world. When pro-freedom protests erupt in a country, other nations cherishing freedom often praise those protests. 

To accuse Iran of fomenting protests on university campuses not only defies reason but also amounts to insulting those vigilant professors and students who stood for justice and globally cherished values. The United States should listen to the voice of reason and stop militarily supporting Israel in its genocidal campaign against the defenseless Palestinians whose plight awakened the conscience of numerous officials inside the Biden administration and led them to resign.