Psychological Warfare Against Iran

“Iranians in America have links with their families at home, and they are a good two-way source of information,” he said.

The CIA will also be allowed to supply communications equipment which would enable opposition groups in Iran to work together and bypass internet censorship by the clerical regime.

“The Intelligence Ministry succeeded in finding, recognizing and confronting some spy networks of infiltrating elements from the Iraqi occupiers in west, southwest and central Iran,” said the statement, carried by the official IRNA news agency.

“These spy networks were guided by the intelligence services of the occupiers and were supported by some influential Iraqi groups. The detailed news will be announced in the next few days.”

The mistranslated “wiped off the map” quote attributed to Iran’s president has been spread worldwide, repeated thousands of times in international media, and prompted the denouncements of numerous world leaders. Virtually every major and minor media outlet has published or broadcast this false statement to the masses. Big news agencies such as The Associated Press and Reuters refer to the misquote, literally, on an almost daily basis.

According to the American television network, Bush signed a formal “non-lethal presidential finding” earlier this year authorising “a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions”.

Based on information from unnamed former and current CIA officials, ABC News reported that Bush approved the plan “about the time that [Admiral William] Fallon took over [as head of the Pentagon’s Central Command]”—that is, about mid-March. It also stated that National Security Adviser Steve Hadley and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams both gave the green light for the operation.

The timing of the plan coincides with a steady stream of articles, prominently placed in the media, highlighting Tehran’s crackdown on women’s dress, arrest of dissidents, alleged nuclear weapons programs and support for anti-occupation militia operating inside neighbouring Iraq. While it is impossible to know how many of these reports are direct CIA “plants,” they point to a concerted campaign of propaganda and disinformation. Whatever the impact inside Iran, such stories serve to poison public opinion in the US and internationally in preparation for a possible military strike.

There is nothing particularly secret about the Bush administration’s campaign for “regime change”. Last year Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought and received $75 million for anti-Iranian propaganda broadcasts and to fund opposition groups inside and outside Iran. In 2005, the figure was just $10 million. Rice also established an Iranian Affairs office last year, initially headed by Elizabeth Cheney, the vice president’s daughter, to coordinate policy and provide “pro-democracy funding” for opponents of the regime. The Boston Globe reported in January that a team of top officials from the Pentagon, State Department, CIA, Treasury and National Security Council, known as the Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group (ISOG), had been working for some time to strengthen military alliances against Iran, finance Iranian dissidents and undermine the country economically.

The campaign for “regime change” in Iran has nothing to do with defending “democracy” or the political rights of the Iranian population. Its sole purpose is to advance US strategic and economic interests. Iran not only contains huge reserves of oil and gas, it sits at the strategic crossroads of the resource-rich regions of Central Asia and the Middle East.

www.wsws.org

Two Republican presidential candidates today criticized the ABC News report Tuesday about the CIA’s covert plan to destabilize the Iranian regime

ABC News

PressTV

CIA covert efforts to destabilize Iran

Thu, 24 May 2007 10:07:18

CIA is launching covert operations to destabilize Iran.

American ABC News Network has revealed CIA’s covert operations designed to destabilize Iran and instigate a soft revolution in the country.

The network on Wednesday quoted former CIA and Defense Department officials as saying that President George W. Bush has signed a document authorizing secret operations inside Iran to destabilize the Iranian government.

Based on the report, this non-military campaign involved media propaganda, publication of articles in newspapers and manipulation of Iran’s currency and banking transactions.

A former CIA agent told ABC television that the Bush administration has come to the realization that military operations against Iran have negative impact.

The disclosure of US’s sabotage plot against Iran coincides with the arrest of Washington-based academic Haleh Esfandiari who has been working as the Soros Foundation representative.

Esfandiari has admitted that Soros Foundation has established an unofficial connection network inside Iran under the pretext of promoting democracy and human rights but with the covert aim of overthrowing the Iranian government.

The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert “black” operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a “nonlethal presidential finding” that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/0…authorizes.html