TEHRAN – After linking Iran to a July assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the U.S. government is now making new allegations against Tehran, this time claiming the West Asian country is attempting to influence U.S. elections through cyber-attacks, without presenting any evidence.

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the White House has seized two “Kremlin-run” websites and charged two Russian journalists for alleged attempts to spread misinformation ahead of the U.S. presidential election. He added that Iran is another foreign state trying to “exploit” American “democratic systems of government”. Its method, he claimed, included conducting hacking operations targeting the presidential campaigns of both political parties.  

“When you make such serious accusations against a foreign state as a top judicial official, you must provide evidence to support them,” said Amir Ali Abolfath, an Iranian researcher and expert on North American affairs. “Until then, your claims are invalid and baseless.”

Accusations of foreign interference in U.S. elections by American officials are rare. The most prominent instance occurred in 2016 when Democrats accused Russia of actively influencing the presidential election in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump. However, evidence of Russian interference, if it exists, has yet to be publicly presented.

Abolfath argues that the U.S. not only lacks evidence to support its allegations of foreign interference but also fails to clearly define what constitutes meddling. "Americans might see an article or TV show analyzing the elections in the U.S. and call it an attempt to sway the vote," he says. "They never provide substantial evidence for their claims, so it's impossible to understand what they consider meddling."

An article published by a U.S. government mouthpiece suggests that American officials may in fact perceive any analysis or criticism of candidates' conduct or history as attempts to interfere in the elections.

A September 4th article in The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials have identified "fake websites" allegedly run by Iran, designed to spread propaganda and misinformation about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The article doesn't explain how the U.S. intelligence officials determined that Iran was behind the websites or how they classified the content as disinformation and propaganda. However, an examination of the websites and their content reveals nothing extraordinary. Some articles criticize both candidates for their support of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, while others analyze their perceived strengths and weaknesses, topics frequently discussed by media outlets across the world. 

“I believe the U.S. government's accusations of foreign interference in American elections are actually a reaction to the growing criticism of their political figures. This emboldened criticism is largely due to social media, which has made it harder for Washington to control the flow of information, despite their tight control over major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter,” Abolftah said. “This is what’s making Americans angry.” 

“U.S. telling others to abandon a practice it’s a veteran at”

Besides their veracity, Washington's unsubstantiated accusations against Iran and Russia have also raised questions about the U.S. government's own history of influencing elections in other countries

“The U.S. undoubtedly possesses the most extensive resources and demonstrably the greatest willingness among global powers to interfere in other countries' elections, and it boasts a long history of such actions too,” said Tehran University Professor Foad Izadi. “So, the U.S. can’t be more hypocritical when it accuses other countries of trying to sway its elections.” 

One of Washington's earliest attempts to influence foreign elections occurred at the start of the Cold War in 1948 when the CIA secretly funded efforts to ensure the defeat of communist candidates in Italy. Most recently, last month, the U.S. claimed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had rigged elections to stay in power. Later the U.S. stole Maduro’s private jets based on the unfounded assertions. 

Izadi points out that in some cases, the U.S. doesn't even need to influence elections to control a country's foreign policy. "There are countries where elections never happen. They have kings and ruling families," he explains, "and Washington ensures its control by supporting these often-dictatorial rulers."