Websites Linked to Iran Established Targeting Minority and Veteran Voters in the US
A collection of nearly twenty websites that connect to Tehran represents the newest initiative by pro-Iranian factions to influence targeted segments of the U.S. electorate.
TroibNews 
A network of pro-Iranian fake news websites is reportedly disseminating disinformation related to the upcoming U.S. elections, specifically aimed at minority and veteran voters, according to a report released on Friday by a hawkish think tank.
These websites represent yet another instance of Iranian-linked attempts to interfere with the U.S. electoral process, raising alarms about the extent of Iran's disinformation activities across U.S. platforms.
Researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) have identified a network comprising at least 19 websites masquerading as news or analysis sites. Among these, “Afro Majority” promotes favorable narratives about Vice President Kamala Harris and Black Lives Matter. Another site, “Not Our War,” features critical content about both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, primarily targeting U.S. veterans.
Five of these websites had already been identified by other analysts. The findings from FDD suggest that these sites are part of a significant and organized influence campaign.
All identified websites have shared various pro-Iranian fake news pieces or op-eds, including content that praised the Iranian government’s handling of protests occurring on U.S. college campuses against the war in Gaza.
While the FDD does not formally associate these sites with the Iranian government, five of them have previously been linked to Tehran by other organizations.
Last month, Microsoft identified two websites, “Savannah Time” and “Nio Thinker,” as having connections to the Iranian government. Savannah Time was presented as a news outlet for Savannah, Georgia, a key swing state, while Nio Thinker claimed to be a left-leaning site designed to diminish support for Trump.
Many of these websites utilize artificial intelligence tools, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to generate their content. OpenAI also flagged Savannah Time and Nio Thinker, alongside three other related sites, categorizing them as part of an “Iranian influence operation.” Additionally, a website called “Westland Sun” was discovered to specifically target U.S. voters in Michigan, another crucial swing state for the upcoming election.
Several websites in this network are hosted on servers located outside the U.S. and remain active, including those previously highlighted by Microsoft and OpenAI.
FDD has urged the U.S. government to collaborate with international partners to shut down these sites. Experts from FDD indicated to PMG that they had notified the Biden administration of their findings before going public, but did not specify which agencies were involved. PMG reached out for comments from both the White House and the FBI, but received no immediate responses.
The analysts were prompted to investigate the possibility of a broader network of associated sites following the revelations from Microsoft and OpenAI.
“When we first looked at this web hosting server, we saw a lot of domains,” stated Max Lesser, senior analyst on emerging threats at FDD and a co-author of the report. “We don't believe that every domain on that server is related, but when we came through and actually looked at each domain on the primary server that was shared between the three domains that Microsoft exposed … we found that these appear to be Iranian influence operations.”
Despite their sophisticated design, many websites lack author bylines, or if present, the named individuals do not appear to exist, with the linked social media accounts proving nonfunctional.
The report emerged in the wake of a hack-and-leak operation that targeted the Trump campaign, which was later attributed by various U.S. agencies to the Iranian government. Campaigns belonging to Biden and Harris were also affected. Additionally, Google Cloud’s Mandiant reported last week on an Iranian counterintelligence operation that employed numerous fake pro-Israeli websites to identify potential dissidents supporting Israel both within and outside Iran.
Navid Kalantari contributed to this report for TROIB News
These websites represent yet another instance of Iranian-linked attempts to interfere with the U.S. electoral process, raising alarms about the extent of Iran's disinformation activities across U.S. platforms.
Researchers at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) have identified a network comprising at least 19 websites masquerading as news or analysis sites. Among these, “Afro Majority” promotes favorable narratives about Vice President Kamala Harris and Black Lives Matter. Another site, “Not Our War,” features critical content about both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, primarily targeting U.S. veterans.
Five of these websites had already been identified by other analysts. The findings from FDD suggest that these sites are part of a significant and organized influence campaign.
All identified websites have shared various pro-Iranian fake news pieces or op-eds, including content that praised the Iranian government’s handling of protests occurring on U.S. college campuses against the war in Gaza.
While the FDD does not formally associate these sites with the Iranian government, five of them have previously been linked to Tehran by other organizations.
Last month, Microsoft identified two websites, “Savannah Time” and “Nio Thinker,” as having connections to the Iranian government. Savannah Time was presented as a news outlet for Savannah, Georgia, a key swing state, while Nio Thinker claimed to be a left-leaning site designed to diminish support for Trump.
Many of these websites utilize artificial intelligence tools, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to generate their content. OpenAI also flagged Savannah Time and Nio Thinker, alongside three other related sites, categorizing them as part of an “Iranian influence operation.” Additionally, a website called “Westland Sun” was discovered to specifically target U.S. voters in Michigan, another crucial swing state for the upcoming election.
Several websites in this network are hosted on servers located outside the U.S. and remain active, including those previously highlighted by Microsoft and OpenAI.
FDD has urged the U.S. government to collaborate with international partners to shut down these sites. Experts from FDD indicated to PMG that they had notified the Biden administration of their findings before going public, but did not specify which agencies were involved. PMG reached out for comments from both the White House and the FBI, but received no immediate responses.
The analysts were prompted to investigate the possibility of a broader network of associated sites following the revelations from Microsoft and OpenAI.
“When we first looked at this web hosting server, we saw a lot of domains,” stated Max Lesser, senior analyst on emerging threats at FDD and a co-author of the report. “We don't believe that every domain on that server is related, but when we came through and actually looked at each domain on the primary server that was shared between the three domains that Microsoft exposed … we found that these appear to be Iranian influence operations.”
Despite their sophisticated design, many websites lack author bylines, or if present, the named individuals do not appear to exist, with the linked social media accounts proving nonfunctional.
The report emerged in the wake of a hack-and-leak operation that targeted the Trump campaign, which was later attributed by various U.S. agencies to the Iranian government. Campaigns belonging to Biden and Harris were also affected. Additionally, Google Cloud’s Mandiant reported last week on an Iranian counterintelligence operation that employed numerous fake pro-Israeli websites to identify potential dissidents supporting Israel both within and outside Iran.
Navid Kalantari contributed to this report for TROIB News
