In August 2022, the Justice Department announced that the FBI had foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton in retaliation for the U.S. killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
‘Hitman’ Recruited to Target John Bolton Was an FBI Informant
Tag: Shahram Poursafi
US accused over huge ‘covert pro-Western’ digital campaign targeting Middle East
Dozens of social media accounts operating for years in an attempt to influence people in the Middle East and Asia have been shut down. Now a major new study believes the US is likely behind it
US accused over huge ‘covert pro-Western’ digital campaign targeting Middle East
Related:
CONOPs
Evaluating Five Years of Pro-Western Covert Influence Operations
The US government got caught using sock puppets to spread propaganda on social media
The data analyzed came from 146 Twitter accounts (which tweeted 299,566 times), 39 Facebook profiles, and 26 Instagram accounts, along with 16 Facebook pages and two Facebook groups. Some of the accounts were meant to appear like real people and used AI-generated profile pictures. Meta and Twitter didn’t specifically name any organizations or people behind the campaigns but said their analysis led them to believe they originated in the US and Great Britain.
For anyone who’s ever been within 15 feet of a history book, the news that the US is using covert action to push its interests in other countries won’t come as a surprise. It is, however, interesting that these operations were uncovered just as social media companies are gearing up to deal with a wave of foreign interference and misinformation in our own elections.
The report also comes right on the heels of a bombshell whistleblower report from Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, Twitter’s former head of security, which accused the company of lax security practices and misrepresenting the number of bots on its platform (something the US government is investigating and that Twitter has strongly denied).
Bolton ’embarrassed’ at low price allegedly offered in assassination plot
Former national security adviser John Bolton said he was embarrassed when he found out $300,000 was being offered to assassinate him
Bolton ’embarrassed’ at low price allegedly offered in assassination plot
I’m surprised that he’s even worth that much (if the story is even true)!
‘New work of fiction’: Iran rejects US claim of plot to kill ex-NSA John Bolton
‘New work of fiction’: Iran rejects US claim of plot to kill ex-NSA John Bolton
The US claim comes at a crunch moment in talks on reviving a nuclear deal between Iran and major powers that Washington had abandoned in 2018 but has said it wants to rejoin, with Iran now considering what European Union mediators have called a “final” text.