VOA: Russia and Iran, attempts to interfere in the American elections

Opponents of America are increasing their efforts to influence the outcome of the presidential elections in the United States. VOA correspondent Jeff Seldin reports on the expansion of sophisticated operations aimed at influencing American voters. According to US authorities, most of these efforts come from Russia and Iran.

In the race for president in the United States, the effort to win voters continues in full intensity.

"We will save the economy. We will save middle-class families," says Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

"It's time to start a new chapter," says Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. But, according to American officials, Russia has also joined the election race.

"President Vladimir Putin's inner circle, including Sergey Kiriyenko, run disinformation campaigns as part of a program to influence the United States presidential election," said Merrick Garland, United States Attorney General.

Part of the scheme, according to US charges, involved impersonating dozens of online news sites to influence how US voters think about critical issues.

The rest include Russian state-backed media outlet RT, which is accused of sending almost $10 million to a US-based media company.

"They made millions of dollars in payments to Americans to deliver the Kremlin's message to influence American elections and undermine democracy," said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department. Russia denies the allegations.

"This is Russophobia, it is an attack on freedom of speech and discrimination. These are the dirtiest American games for manipulation during the elections," says Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. US officials dismiss these statements as ridiculous.

A US counterintelligence assessment released earlier this month called Russia "the most active foreign influence threat" for the election aimed at boosting former President Donald Trump's chances of victory.

Iran is also involved.

"We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during these elections. This includes activities to harm former President Trump's campaign and avoid an election result that Iran considers against its interests," said US Attorney General Garland.

US intelligence officials say China has also waged a small social media campaign aimed at damaging candidates perceived to be hostile to Beijing.

It is not certain whether US deterrence efforts are working.

"I don't think this has been sufficiently understood by most American voters as an issue of importance yet, but it's really important that voters understand what's going on and how they're being taken advantage of," says Margaret Talev of Syracuse University.

This gives Americans plenty of reason to think about the risks as they prepare to head to the polls./VOA