The United States is using cyber operations not only to disrupt Iran’s military capabilities but to pressure senior regime officials to defect, a former top commander of US Cyber Command told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, describing an information warfare campaign aimed at accelerating regime change from within.
Using information warfare, Lt. Gen. Charles L. Moore Jr. explained that the US was reaching out to senior officials within the regime, the IRGC, and the security forces to create the understanding that their lives now depend on backing the desires of the Iranian people for regime change. Part of making this strategy effective, he explained, was using the kinetic actions on the ground to make the consequences of not complying clear.
“We're going to message directly to the types of individuals [in the IRGC, regime and security forces]: ‘Listen, if you want to have a life and for you and your family, tell us what's going on here, here are the things that you need to do,’... Likewise, if you don't take those actions, your life is probably on a shot clock,’ and that's being backed up by what they're seeing all around them,” he explained.
“We need people at those senior levels that have influence and have sway, that are in charge, to hopefully come out and say ‘we support the people, we're no longer supporting the regime.’ And if we can get to that state, I think you could see a change happen pretty rapidly,” he predicted, adding that the US military was also gathering intelligence using the cyber domain.
“When you set aside the kinetic actions we're taking against the nuclear capabilities, the missile development and launch capabilities, and their navy, as was laid out by the President (Donald Trump) and the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu), the other actions that we're taking are primarily about trying to set the table for regime change and to support the people,” he said, asserting that 80% of Iran wanted to see a new government installed.
A widening alliance against Iran
Continuing to speak on the more physical military actions being taken, the career Air Force command pilot said that the US and Israel could potentially soon expect more regional partners to join the attacks on Iran, noting how Tehran’s recent missile-firing spree had left neighboring countries “fed up.”
Asked about the recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, which suggested fractures within the regime were being evidenced by an increasing number of leaks to Western media, Moore said that the US would understand how deep the tears are once officials finally make public statements of dissent.
“We may see it via TV, news, or radio, or maybe more than anything, most likely, via some type of video. Is posted on the web, and that could be a very powerful point in this whole operation,” he added.
Referencing General Dan Caine, the 22nd Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Moore noted that “the United States' ability to truly synchronize, integrate and layer effects from the air, from cyberspace and from space to achieve our military objectives” set it apart. Exemplifying the rapidly improving cooperation in these fields, Moore pointed to the recent operations in Venezuela, where US forces detained Nicolás Maduro in January.
“Let me tell you, from firsthand experience, there's nobody on the planet that knows how to do it with the degree of professionalism and outcome that you see from the United States,” Moore claimed. “There's nobody on the planet that has the capabilities and effects that can be achieved in that regard.”
Turning from recent successes to failings, the Post questioned how capable the US is of monitoring Tehran’s cryptocurrency fundraising activities, which reportedly included $1.7 billion in transfers from two Iranian Binance accounts to Iran’s terrorist proxies last year, in violation of US sanctions, according to The New York Times.
Experts from the blockchain intelligence platform NOMINIS.io told the Post last week that since October 7 alone, more than a $100 million has entered the Gaza Strip through cryptofinance.
Moore responded that the realities of Crypto and Iranian funding networks were “not lost” on the US or cyber operators in Israel. “There are lots of things that we can do and that we do do in this space to try to minimize their (Iran’s) ability to truly continue to fund things at a significant level through [crypto],” he assured.
“'It’s kind of a fact, if you will, an unfortunate fact or truism of the digital space, the cyber environment that malicious capabilities are developed a lot faster than our capabilities to deal with them,” he admitted. “Malicious offensive capabilities always seem to preclude and outpace, at least initially, our defensive capabilities - but none of that's lost on the United States, and they're working very hard in all those areas.”