A fresh report suggests that messages intercepted by the U.S. and thought to have come from Iran could act as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” operating beyond the country’s borders.
ABC News reports that a notice was circulated to U.S. law-enforcement agencies on Monday. The alert cites “preliminary signals analysis” linked to a broadcast “likely of Iranian origin” that appeared across multiple countries in the aftermath of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death.
Investigators were particularly concerned because the transmission was encrypted. The alert stated this indicated it was meant for “clandestine recipients,” prompting worries it could “be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country.”
“While the exact contents of these transmissions cannot currently be determined, the sudden appearance of a new station with international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational awareness,” the alert said.
Weeks before the most recent intensification in tensions between Washington and Tehran—around June, shortly before U.S. and Israeli strikes hit multiple Iranian nuclear facilities—Iran warned President Trump that such action would prompt retaliation on American soil. With the conflict now stretching into a ten-day bombardment that has reportedly taken more than 1,000 lives, those earlier threats are being viewed with renewed urgency.
On Monday, Trump was asked about the intercepted broadcast and the prospect of sleeper cells. He said the risk was being taken seriously and that his administration was “very much on top of it.”
He then argued the federal response capacity had been hindered, blaming Democrats and saying the “apparatus that looks into that” had been slowed by the partial government shutdown.
Continuing his criticism, he claimed Democrats “probably hate our country a lot.”
“We’ve got very, very good intelligence into that,” Trump continued, in reference to the possibility of sleeper assets outside of Iran. “Yeah, we know a lot about them. The biggest problem we have is the Democrat shutdown. We know a lot about them, but the shutdown doesn’t allow us to do what we have to do.”
Trump’s remarks follow comments from former assistant FBI director Chris Swecker, who told Fox News: “If ever there’s going to be a Hezbollah cell or a Hamas cell act in the United States in a violent way, it’s now.”
He added earlier this month: “We know that they have cells here. We also know that there are lone sympathizers, many of whom have come out in these protest groups.”
FBI Director Kash Patel also addressed the issue last month, saying task forces across the country “are working 24/7, as always, to address and disrupt any potential threats to the homeland.”