FBI Director Kash Patel has increased efforts to monitor possible domestic sleeper cells linked to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization backed by Iran since Israel began targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities last week.
While President Donald Trump is considering whether to strike Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, joining Israel's campaign, law enforcement officials have increased surveillance of Iranian-backed operatives in the U.S., CBS News reported Thursday, citing multiple unnamed sources.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump will decide within the next two weeks, citing "a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place" with Iran.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials have been concerned about Iran's ability to direct or inspire attacks within the U.S. since Trump ordered the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, in January 2020 at an Iraqi airfield.
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies have devoted significant resources to countering the threat, according to CBS News.
Late last year, federal prosecutors charged an IRGC asset and two U.S.-based individuals with plotting to assassinate Trump before November's election. Iranian operative Farhad Shakeri, 51; Carlisle "Pop" Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn; and Jonathan Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island were charged in what prosecutors described in the indictment as a network of criminal associates tasked by Iran to further assassination plots on targets, including Trump and journalist Masih Alinejad, a fierce critic of the Islamic regime. The three were each charged with murder-for-hire and other related crimes.
Trump reportedly is wary over bombing Iran in part because of concerns about creating "another Libya" if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is toppled. Trump in recent days has specifically mentioned Libya's decadelong plunge into anarchy in 2011 after the U.S. under Barack Obama joined a NATO bombing campaign to oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Iran has threatened to retaliate if the U.S. decides to strike.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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