US-Iran Tensions Rise, CIA Offers Tips to Potential Informants to Establish Communication

JAKARTA - The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offered assistance to potential informants in Iran on Tuesday, providing instructions in Farsi on how to safely contact the US intelligence agency as President Donald Trump considered a possible military strike.

"Hello. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) hears you and wants to help," the agency wrote in the message, according to an English translation, as reported by Al Arabiya from The Associated Press (25/2).

"Here are some tips on how to make a safe virtual call with us," he continued.

The Farsi-language post received millions of views in just a few hours.

The post is the latest in a series of recruitment pitches in Farsi, Korean, Russian and Mandarin offering a secure way to contact the CIA.

However, the Farsi-language message uploaded on Tuesday to X, Instagram and YouTube, comes at a particularly tense time in US-Iranian relations and as Iran's theocracy faces new protests at home.

The agency would not say whether the previous recruitment video had yielded any new information or sources, but CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the upload had an impact.

"Last year, the CIA's Mandarin-language video campaign reached many Chinese citizens and we know there are many more who are looking for ways to improve their lives and change their country for the better," Ratcliffe said earlier this month, when the new Mandarin-language video was uploaded.

CIA tips include using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade internet restrictions and surveillance, and the use of disposable devices that are not easily traced back to their users. The CIA also urges potential informants to use private web browsers and delete their internet histories to cover their tracks.

The instructions include how to contact the CIA via its public website or on the darknet, a section of the internet that can only be accessed using special tools designed to hide user identities. The CIA has also uploaded similar instructions in Russian.

The US has deployed its largest military force in the Middle East in decades as tensions with Iran have escalated.

President Trump threatened military action in January in response to the government's crackdown on nationwide protests before shifting his focus to Iran's disputed nuclear program and warning it to make a deal. Another round of nuclear talks is planned for this weekend.

As a sign of new unrest in Iran, students held anti-government protests at universities in Tehran on Monday.