FBI alert on possible Iran retaliation based on unverified tip, White House says

2026-03-13 00:07:56

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - An FBI alert to law enforcement agencies last month warning of the possibility that Tehran might try to retaliate for any U.S. strikes ‌on Iran by launching drone attacks in California was based on a single unverified tip, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday, adding that there has never been such a threat to the U.S. from Iran.

The confidential alert, ⁠issued by the FBI through the multi-agency Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center, surfaced publicly on Wednesday as the war that began on February 28 with massive U.S. and Israeli bombardments of Iran stretched on.

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The alert cited FBI information that, as of early February, Iran “allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles” launched from a sea vessel against targets in California “in ‌the ⁠event that the U.S. conducted strikes against Iran.”

Leavitt in a post on X on Thursday said that the alert was based on one email sent to local law enforcement in California containing a single, ⁠unverified tip.

“TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” Leavitt wrote.

ABC News first broke news of ⁠the FBI security bulletin.

U.S. President Donald Trump has shrugged off the notion of Iran-backed attacks on the U.S. homeland.

Asked on ⁠Wednesday if he was worried that Iran may ramp up its retaliation to include strikes on U.S. soil, Trump told reporters, “No, I’m not.”

Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Caitlin Webber

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Daphne Psaledakis

Thomson Reuters

Daphne Psaledakis is a foreign policy correspondent based in Washington, D.C., where she covers U.S. sanctions, Africa and the State Department. She has covered the rollout of U.S. sanctions on Russia after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Washington’s efforts to enforce its sanctions and the U.S. response to the conflict in Ethiopia, among other issues. She previously covered European Union politics and energy and climate policy for Reuters in Brussels as part of an Overseas Press Club Foundation fellowship in 2019. Daphne holds a Bachelor of Journalism in Print and Digital News and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies.

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