Online activity by the two American adversaries is showing that Iran is opposing Donald Trump and Russia Kamala Harris, Microsoft’s president Brad Smith told a Senate intelligence hearing on Wednesday.
Smith appeared at the hearing alongside two senior managers from Google and Meta on Wednesday and all three tech giants have recently experienced and reported cases of cyber interference from sources linked to Iran.
“We know that there is a presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, but this has also become an election of Iran versus Trump and Russia versus Harris,” Smith said during his opening statement.
“It is an election where Russia, Iran and China are united with a common interest in discrediting democracy in the eyes of our own voters and, even more so, in the eyes of the world”.
Smith’s testimony followed the release of a Microsoft report that found Russian operatives were behind a viral video falsely accusing Vice President Harris of a vehicular hit-and-run incident.
Foreign influence first appeared as an issue during the 2016 election campaign, mainly involving Russia . Multiple investigations concluded that the Russian government had engaged in a multi-faceted campaign to disrupt the election, largely to benefit Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
Iran was not a big player in the cyber influence game at that time but that appears to have changed in the run up to the 2024 election. "Iran is becoming increasingly bold in its attempts to stoke discord and erode trust in our democratic institutions," the US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in July.
The issue peaked on Wednesday when the FBI announced that Iran had been spying on Trump’s campaign and attempted to pass stolen information to the Harris campaign.
“Wow, just out! The FBI caught Iran spying on my campaign and giving all of the information to the Kamala Harris campaign. Therefore she and her campaign were illegally spying on me. To be known as the Iran, Iran, Iran case! Will Kamala resign in disgrace from politics? Will the communist left pick a new candidate to replace her?"
Iran was also alleged to have meddled in the 2020 presidential election, and US investigators said two Iranian hackers stole confidential US voter information from at least one election website.
The charges brought against Behrouz Ehsani Eslamloo and Mehdi Hassani include "armed rebellion (baghi), waging war against God (moharebeh), spreading corruption on earth, membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, collecting classified information, and collusion against national security."
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that the sentences were formally communicated to the men's lawyers.
Ehsani, 64, was arrested on November 28, 2022, at his home in Tehran and was subsequently transferred to Ward 209, the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention center in Evin Prison.
Hassani, 48, a married father of two, was arrested on September 9, 2022, in Zanjan while attempting to leave the country. He was also taken to the same intelligence agency's detention center in Evin Prison. Both men endured months of interrogation before being moved to the public ward of the prison.
Since the founding of the Islamic Republic, political activists and civil dissidents have been routinely arrested, tortured, and imprisoned. The situation has worsened since the nationwide protests, known as the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, which began in September 2022. The government has cracked down on civil and political activists, increasing the number of arrests and accelerating the issuance and execution of death sentences.
In recent months, the Islamic Republic sentenced two female political prisoners, Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, marking the first death sentences for female political prisoners in 15 years.
Leila Morrovati, a political analyst based in Finland, told Iran International that the international community must take unified action to stop the wave of executions in Iran.
Last year, over 850 executions were carried out, and according to Iran Human Rights, Iranian authorities executed 249 people in the first six months of 2024.
"Now it is the responsibility of international organizations, especially governments, to take coordinated measures to prevent these executions. The global community must be made fully aware of what is happening in Iran," Morovati said.
Amnesty International’s latest annual report noted a rise in executions in Iran, stating that nearly 75% of all recorded executions globally in 2023 took place in the country. The report highlights that since the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, the Iranian authorities have increasingly resorted to the death penalty as a tool to impose control and suppress the growing unrest among the population.
Several have voiced their discontent over social media to fighters being brought to Iran and Iranian doctors sent to Lebanon to treat Hezbollah operatives in the wake of two targeted attacks this week.
One citizen, in a video sent to Iran International, commented: "The Islamic Republic blinded Iranian protesters and didn't allow them treatment, but treats Hezbollah's wounded in Iran."
This week saw two separate incidents in which the communication devices of scores of Hezbollah forces exploded, leading to hundreds of casualties and multiple deaths.
The Tuesday explosions targeting pager devices belonging to the Iran-backed militant group occurred in Beirut, killing at least 12 people and injuring around 2,800 others, with 300 reported in critical condition.
The following day, more explosions targeted Hezbollah's walkie-talkie devices in various cities across Lebanon. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Health, these incidents left at least 37 people dead and many injured.
While Israel has not commented, the blame has been laid at the Jewish state. Just minutes before the attack, Israel released news of having foiled a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former security chief in Israel.
The two countries have been involved in daily bombardments since October 7 when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel. In allegiance with Hamas, Iran's biggest proxy has since fired over 6,000 projectiles towards Israel, leading to a conflict displacing around 200,000 people on both sides of the border.
In response to the explosions, Pirhossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, announced that 95 of the injured had been transferred to Iran for further treatment.
Kolivand also confirmed that two groups of Iranian doctors, including eye specialists, had been dispatched to Lebanon. In another interview, he noted that 12 doctors, along with nurses and paramedics from the Red Crescent, were also deployed to assist in Lebanon.
The decision to treat the Hezbollah forces has been met with a flood of backlash on social media. Masih Alinejad, a prominent journalist and women’s rights activist, reacted on X: "The hypocrisy is glaring: the same regime that intentionally blinded peaceful Woman, Life, Freedom protesters in Iran is now offering medical care to Hezbollah operatives who lost their eyesight to pager explosions."
In 2022, during protests over the killing of Mahsa Amini, Iranian security forces were accused of deliberately targeting protesters’ eyes, blinding many of them, in addition to killing over 550, including women and children.
Ehsan Karami, a former TV host and actor, voiced his frustration online: "Why should the people of Iran bear the cost of transferring and treating these individuals, who will undoubtedly receive the best medical care? Rubber bullets and eye removal are the share of Iranian youth, while exclusive flights and special treatment in Tehran are reserved for Hezbollah’s freeloaders."
Sociologist Majid Mohammadi also weighed in, saying: "Netanyahu played the role of God for those seeking justice for the brutal shootings by Basij militia and Special Units that targeted the eyes, hands, and legs of protesters in the Mahsa movement. Three thousand members of Hezbollah and their associates have suffered eye injuries (with 500 blinded), and many have had their fingers and hands amputated. Netanyahu brought smiles to the faces of the families of Iran’s martyrs."
A user identified as Leadsoldier highlighted the contrast between how Hezbollah fighters are treated compared to Iranian citizens: "While our brave young freedom fighters are wandering from place to place seeking treatment for their eye injuries, Hezbollah’s freeloading terrorists receive free care in the best hospitals in the country. This injustice weighs even heavier when we witness the meager income and unbearable pressure on our nation's nurses and medical staff."
International human rights organizations have also brought attention to the issue of eye injuries sustained by Iranian protesters. The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley earlier verified that at least 120 people had lost some or all of their vision when Iranian security agents used shotguns, paintball guns, and tear gas canisters to suppress protests in 2022. While the Center stopped short of declaring that blinding protesters was a coordinated policy, the evidence indicated that many victims were shot in the face at close range.
The Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) also corroborated the findings, stating that security forces “systematically” targeted the eyes of protesters, particularly women, during the protests. An IHR report confirmed 138 cases of eye injuries, including eight children under 18. The majority of the injuries resulted from pellets, with others caused by paintball guns and tear gas cartridges.
Iran is also in the midst of a dire health crisis with shortages of medicine and healthcare practitioners who are fleeing the country in droves in search of better working conditions and salaries.
The museum, overseen by Tehran's municipality, is now embroiled in a scandal that raises questions about corruption and negligence at the highest levels.
Naser Amani, a member of Tehran's city council, revealed the situation on Monday, estimating that just one of the missing works alone was valued at 300 billion rials (approximately $500,000).
During a city council session, he announced that 30 priceless paintings had vanished after being loaned out for a supposed exhibition—an exhibition that never took place.
Amani’s revelations have stirred outrage as the council member underscored the municipality's legal responsibility to protect public assets. Despite repeated inquiries, officials have failed to provide any explanation or accountability.
"We’ve tried to follow up on this, but not only have we not received a report, no one has provided a clear answer about where the valuable artworks are,” Amani lamented.
This latest scandal is far from an isolated incident. Iran has seen a pattern of negligence and outright theft involving its artistic and historical treasures under the Islamic Republic’s governance. From carpets stolen from the Sa’dabad Palace to now-missing paintings, critics argue that corruption and a lack of oversight are enabling the plunder of Iran’s cultural heritage.
The report brings further attention to the gravity of the issue, noting that while 14 of the artworks have already been sold in Dubai, home to as many as half a million Iranians, there may still be hope for the remaining 16 pieces which have not yet surfaced in any known markets. The question remains, however: where are these priceless works, and in whose hands have they fallen?
"Most of the artworks have been sold at prices significantly lower than their real value and the Iranian art market prices,” added the Sanadegi publication.
The sale of Iranian cultural artifacts in foreign markets has long been a point of contention. Many believe that these "disappearances" are not just the result of bureaucratic mismanagement but could be linked to operations involving the black market.
Some users on social media have even accused officials of profiting from the sales, suggesting a deliberate neglect of the country's cultural assets.
The fate of the 30 missing paintings is just one chapter in a broader narrative of how Iran’s cultural heritage is being systematically undermined. The theft of 48 handwoven carpets from Sa’dabad Palace between 2013 and 2016 is another glaring example of the government's inability—or unwillingness—to protect national treasures.
