CIA offers tips to potential informants in Iran as Trump considers military action
This post is the latest in a series of recruitment presentations in Persian, Korean, Russian, and Mandarin that offer secure ways to contact the CIA. But the Persian message posted to X, Instagram and YouTube on Tuesday comes at a particularly fraught time in US-Iran relations, as the Iranian theocracy faces new protests at home.
The United States has amassed its largest military force in the Middle East in decades as tensions with Iran escalate. Trump threatened military action in January in response to the government’s violent crackdown on national protests, before shifting his attention to Iran’s controversial nuclear program and warning Iran to strike a deal. Another round of nuclear negotiations is planned for this weekend.
In a sign of new unrest in Iran, students staged anti-government protests at universities in Tehran on Monday.
“Hello. The Central Intelligence Agency hears you and wants to help,” the agency wrote in its message, according to an English translation. “Here are some tips on how to make a safe virtual call with us.”
The post, written in Persian, reached millions of views in just a few hours.
The agency won’t release details about new leads or sources from previous recruitment videos, but Director John Ratcliffe said the posts made an impact: “Last year, the CIA’s Mandarin video campaign reached many Chinese citizens, and we know there are many more looking for a way to improve their lives and make their country better.” Ratcliffe said when a new Mandarin video was released earlier this month.
The CIA’s tips include using a virtual private network, or VPN, to bypass internet restrictions and surveillance and using a disposable device that is not easily accessible to the user. The CIA also urged potential informants to use special web browsers and delete their internet history to cover their tracks.
The instructions include ways to reach the CIA through its public website or through the dark web, a part of the internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide the user’s identity. The CIA also issued similar instructions in Russian.
A spokesman for Iran’s Mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the new video.
