Chairman Meehan, distinguished members of the Subcommittee:

Thank you for the invitation to appear before you again today. Let me begin by commending the House Homeland Security Committee for its continued leadership on the issue of Iran and cyberwarfare. It is a topic that is of the utmost importance to the safety and security of the United States.

Congressman Lundgren, Congressman Meehan, distinguished members of the Subcommittees:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to address the cyber warfare capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the threat that they pose to the U.S. homeland.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the Iranian regime, now being squeezed significantly by sanctions from the United States and Europe and grappling with significant domestic socio-economic malaise, is far from an imminent threat to the American homeland (even if it does present a vexing foreign policy challenge for the U.S. and its allies). Yet, over the past three years, the Iranian regime has invested heavily in both defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace. Equally significant, its leaders now increasingly appear to view cyber warfare as a potential avenue of action against the United States.

1Although Iran's inroads into the Western Hemisphere have recently garnered considerable attention among experts and the press, the motivations behind them remain poorly understood. Yet in tracing Iran's pattern of behavior in the region over the past several years, it is possible to discern four distinct strategic objectives.

On December 7, AFPC Senior Fellow for Europe and Eurasia E. Wayne Merry testified before the Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe (commonly known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission) on the subject of long-standing conflicts in the Caucasus region (formerly part of the USSR) and the prospects for their resolution.    

 On October 8, 2008, AFPC Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs James S. Robbins testified before the District of Columbia City Council on the issue of divestment from Iran. 

On November 14, 2007, AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on the subject of possible U.S. military action against Iran.
 

On October 23, 2007, AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia on the subject of economic strategy against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

On July 26, 2007, AFPC Vice President for Policy Ilan Berman briefed the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (The Helsinki Commission) on the changes taking place in Turkish domestic and foreign policy, and the implications of that country's summer 2007 elections.

On May 24, 2007, AFPC Senior Associate Wayne Merry testified before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (The Helsinki Commission) on the subject of Russia's changing domestic and foreign policies