US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that American authorities were aware of Iranian sleeper cells inside the country, as US and Israeli forces continued their military operation against Iran.
The operation, now in its second week, reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and has since triggered retaliatory actions by Iran against US assets and allies.
When asked by a Fox News reporter whether he had been briefed on how many Iranian sleeper cells might be inside the United States, Trump said authorities were monitoring them.
“I have been, and a lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border, but we know where most of them are. We’ve got our eye on all of them, I think,” Trump said.
He further blamed former president Joe Biden for what he described as open-border policies that allowed potential threats to enter the country.
“A lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border, but we know where most of them are. We’ve got our eye on all of them,” Trump said, calling Biden “one of the worst presidents in the history of our country.”
Trump also said the military campaign against Iran was being carried out “at a level that nobody’s seen before,” adding that it was “pretty amazing to watch.”
Earlier, reports from ABC News said US authorities had intercepted encrypted communications believed to originate from Iran and intended for clandestine recipients in the country. A federal alert said the exact contents of the transmissions could not yet be determined but asked law enforcement agencies to increase monitoring of suspicious radio-frequency activity.
“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.
The warnings followed several incidents in the US after Khamenei’s death. A Senegalese man opened fire at a bar in Austin, killing three people, while two men were charged with attempting to support ISIS during protests outside Gracie Mansion, the residence of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The US Customs and Border Protection had earlier warned about the risk of sleeper cells after more than 700 Iranian nationals remained in the US despite allegedly crossing the border illegally over the past four years.
Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said counterterrorism teams were on high alert and working around the clock to prevent threats on US soil.
“Last night, I instructed our counterterrorism and intelligence teams to be on high alert and mobilise all assisting security assets needed,” Patel wrote on X shortly after the US operation began.
