Iran was allegedly plotting a \u201csurprise\u201d terror attack on California in retaliation for US strikes, the FBI has warned.<\/p>\n
The FBI issued a warning to police departments in California that Iran \u201callegedly aspired\u201d to launch drones at the state last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,\u201d the FBI said in an alert, as per ABC News.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not clear why Tehran was looking to target the state.<\/p>\n
In a post on X on Wednesday, US time, California Governor Gavin said he is in \u201cconstant coordination with security and intelligence officials\u201d to monitor potential threats to California, \u201cincluding those tied to the conflict in the Middle East\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we are not aware of any imminent threats at this time, we remain prepared for any emergency in our state,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
It comes as Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was not worried about Iran-backed attacks on US soil. <\/p>\n
When asked if he was concerned about attacks, the US President told reporters: \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran has carried out retaliatory attacks across the Middle East in response to Israel and the US\u2019 joint February 28 strikes, which killed Iran\u2019s former Supreme Leader. <\/p>\n
A threat assessment produced last month by the by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security said Iran and its proxies \u201cprobably\u201d pose a threat of targeted attacks on the US, although a large-scale physical attack was unlikely.<\/p>\n
Footage released by Iranian state-affiliated Fars News Agency earlier this month purports to show Iran\u2019s vast underground stockpile of attack drones.<\/p>\n
The propaganda video shows rows of drones lined up in the underground tunnels which are decorated with Iranian flags. <\/p>\n
US warns civilians to steer clear of ports <\/p>\n
The US military on Wednesday warned civilians to avoid ports used by Iran along the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 a key waterway where one fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply transits. <\/p>\n
\u201cCENTCOM urges civilians in Iran to immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating. Iranian dockworkers, administrative personnel and commercial vessel crews should avoid Iranian naval vessels and military equipment,\u201d U.S. Central Command (Centcom) wrote in a statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough the U.S. military also cannot guarantee civilian safety in or near facilities used by the Iranian regime for military purposes, American forces will continue taking every feasible precaution to minimize harm to civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least three vessels were attacked along the straight on Wednesday, including the Thai bulk carrier Mayuree Naree, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).<\/p>\n
Pictures released by the Royal Thai navy show black smoke billowing from the ship after a projectile sparked a fire on-board.<\/p>\n
Oman\u2019s navy rescued 20 crew members, with efforts underway to find the remaining three crew. <\/p>\n
Iran said it had struck two ships in the Gulf because they had entered the Strait of Hormuz \u201cafter ignoring the warnings\u201d of its navy, AFP reports.<\/p>\n
IRGC naval commander Alireza Tangsiri said in a social media post that \u201cany vessel intending to pass must get permission from Iran\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran was allegedly plotting a \u201csurprise\u201d terror attack on California in retaliation for US strikes, the FBI has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[265315,265319,2095,485,265316,11301,2057,7810,43,265317,44,2041,2067,265318,120749,41,39,42,40,5525,2614],"class_list":["post-534581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-abc-news-inc","tag-aerial-vehicles","tag-america","tag-california","tag-drone-terror-attack","tag-eastern-europe","tag-europe","tag-fbi","tag-headlines","tag-military-strikes","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-police-departments","tag-terror-attack","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine","tag-united-states-of-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}