Authoritarian regimes have increasingly turned to online information operations as a low-cost, high-leverage instrument for targeting democratic societies. Digital campaigns selectively engage issues that already possess strong emotional and political resonance within the target society. Existing social, economic, and identity-based divisions provide fertile ground for influence, while international crises supply highly salient events that can be reframed to intensify internal divisions. This paper examines how authoritarian regimes strategically localise international crises by transforming external geopolitical conflicts into domestic political controversies that target public trust in democratic institutions. Focusing on Iran as an emerging power in online information operations, the paper explores how does the Iranian regime adapt international crises to exploit domestic vulnerabilities and undermine public trust within democratic societies. The paper focuses on two cases. The first investigates how Iran framed the Gaza War to undermine public trust in Australia following Canberra's decision to expel the Iranian ambassador in 2025. The second explores how, during the 2026 Iran–Israel–US war, Iranian narratives sought to exacerbate intra-Republican divisions and influence the America First movement by portraying the conflict as a betrayal of President Trump’s core supporters. The paper demonstrates how authoritarian regimes transform external geopolitical conflicts into domestic political controversies that weaken public trust and information ecosystem.
