Amid potential Iranian reprisals, experts are on high alert for terror proxies possibly using modern techniques to incite chaos, with antisemitic campus protests and social media propaganda highlighted as potential tools for disruption in the United States.
Following U.S. attacks on Iran’s major nuclear facilities on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin alerting to an increased risk of domestic terrorism from Iranian-backed or homegrown perpetrators.
“The probability of violent extremists within the Homeland independently resorting to violence due to this conflict could rise if Iranian authorities were to issue a religious edict advocating retaliatory attacks on targets in the Homeland,” the bulletin states.
“That is a real low-rent, easy-to-run operation,” Mauro said. “You get somebody who is leading a slipping down life [who] doesn’t have much of an identity, somebody who is looking for a persona, and you give them one. It’s subtle, and it’s a seduction process.”
Anti-Israel protesters climb a fence during demonstrations at the City College Of New York April 30, 2024, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
While the use of propaganda and targeted social media is historically aligned with ISIS, Mauro pointed out changing digital times affecting how attacks can be waged.
“Traditionally, that’s not the Iranian MO,” Mauro said. “That’s not the Hezbollah MO. But we’re in a new world.”
However, the possibility for terror groups to come together with new strategies to use against a common enemy remains front of mind.
“Right now, the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Mauro said. “You could have the kind of elements that previously, people in remnants of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Syria, Iraq could [be] figuring right now that America is going to be a soft target because you have all this unrest among the progressives.”
While the bulletin released by DHS does not cite any specific threats to the American people, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the country are on high alert as they encourage people to remain vigilant with tensions between the U.S. and Iran continuing to rise.
“There are no rules of engagement to a rogue regime like Iran,” Seener said. “Everything is fair game. Western democracies don’t operate in that manner, and it’s alien to us, but that is how Iran operates.”
