Control, Alt, Influence: the Potential for US Cyber Operations in Iran

(Prerana Joshi – RUSI) Over recent months, there has been much talk of US Cyber Command’s alleged role in turning the lights out over the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in the raid to capture the country’s president and his wife. The US has also acknowledged that cyber operations were integrated with its 2025 military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Elsewhere, the Trump administration has indicated the potential for private sector involvement in its offensive cyber operations. Taken together, these developments point in one direction: that cyber operations will occupy a more decisive and visible role in US national security objectives. In Iran, US cyber operations could target a range of systems, from early warning to administrative government infrastructure, with an aim to disrupt, degrade and deny use of capabilities. But these effects have strategic impacts beyond immediate tactical outcomes. When calibrated and aligned to political objectives, they work to create conditions for operational friction within Iran’s security apparatus, increase the IRGC’s operational costs, reduce regime co-ordination and potentially influence decision making. – Control, Alt, Influence: the Potential for US Cyber Operations in Iran | Royal United Services Institute