WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - China and Iran are becoming increasingly brazen in their attempts to silence dissidents on American soil and influence U.S. policy, the FBI warned on Wednesday. In a news briefing with reporters about transnational repression, FBI counterintelligence officials urged victims to come forward, saying the bureau is tracking a growing trend of foreign authoritarian regimes breaching U.S. laws to intimidate certain communities. "A lot of these are new tactics and lines that are being crossed that we have not seen China and Iran do on U.S. soil in previous investigations," one FBI counterintelligence official said. Officials said the goals of transnational repression schemes are multifaceted, and at times also aim to influence U.S. policy decisions through "malign influence tactics." FBI officials declined to comment on the New York case or speak about any other open investigations.

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