US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States was aware of Iranian sleeper cells inside the country, as American and Israeli forces continued their military operation against Iran. The operation, which has entered its second week, killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and has since led to retaliatory actions by Iran on US assets and allies.
Asked by a Fox News reporter if he had been briefed about how many Iranian sleeper cells could be inside the US, Trump replied, "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."
Further blaming former President Joe Biden’s alleged open-border policies for allowing potential threats to enter, Trump said, “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,” he said, calling Biden “one of the worst presidents in the history of our country.”
Trump added that the military campaign against Iran was being carried out “at a level that nobody’s seen before,” calling it “pretty amazing to watch.”
Earlier, reports from ABC News said US authorities intercepted encrypted communications believed to come from Iran, intended for clandestine recipients. A federal alert said the contents could not yet be determined but asked law enforcement 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 incidents in the US since Khamenei’s death. A Senegalese man opened fire at a bar in Austin, Texas, killing three, while two men were charged with attempting to support ISIS during protests outside New York City’s Gracie Mansion, the official residence of NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Customs and Border Protection had previously warned about the risk of sleeper cells after more than 700 Iranian nationals stayed in the US despite crossing the border illegally in the past four years.
FBI Director Kash Patel also said counterterrorism teams were on high alert and working 24/7 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, soon after the US operation began.
