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By Hollie Silverman
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U.S. law enforcement agencies received a federal alert stating the government intercepted an encrypted transmission believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as an “operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, ABC News reported.
The alert referenced “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the reported death of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The FBI declined to comment when contacted by Newsweek.
Read More on World
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Monday for comment.
Why It Matters
The intercept marks an escalation in Iran’s global clandestine capabilities and raises concerns among U.S. and allied security services about retaliatory operations as the Iran war entered a second week.
As new leadership takes power in Iran, it's unclear what assets could be activated in response.
...
What To Know
The advisory reportedly told agencies to increase monitoring of suspicious radio-frequency activity and emphasized situational awareness, while underscoring that authorities did not identify a specific operational threat or target.
“While the exact contents of these transmissions cannot currently be determined,” the alert said, “sudden appearance of a new station with international rebroadcast characteristics warrants heightened situational awareness,” ABC News reported.
The transmission appeared as a newly emerged station with “international rebroadcast characteristics” and was encoded for recipients with a matching encryption key, a design consistent with signaling to “covert operatives or sleeper assets,” according to the report.
The alert said the broadcasts could “be intended to activate or provide instructions to prepositioned sleeper assets operating outside the originating country.”
In June 2025, The National Desk, via ABC 33/40, reported that the Department of Homeland Security warned of a heightened threat environment following strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and issued a national terrorism advisory urging Americans to be on alert, including from “violent extremists independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict.”
What People Are Saying
Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said in remarks reported June 23, 2025, by ABC: “Sleeper cells carrying out acts of terrorism here in the United States, the administration is being vigilant. Law enforcement across the country is being vigilant. But it is a real danger because we’ve had four years of open borders.”
Former DHS senior adviser Charles Marino said in the same June 23, 2025, report: “The fact is nobody, if they’re speaking honestly, from U.S. intelligence or law enforcement can tell you as a matter of fact how badly we’ve been infiltrated here in the United States.”
What Happens Next
Law enforcement agencies were instructed to heighten monitoring for suspicious radio-frequency activity as authorities assess whether the intercepted broadcasts were linked to operational directives.
Update 3/9/26, 12:36 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from the FBI.
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