According to ABC News, the FBI has warned police departments in California in recent days that Iran could retaliate for the United States attacks on its regime by launching drones at the West Coast. The goal of the alert was said to be simply encouraging vigilance.
Iran has already retaliated with drone strikes across parts of the Middle East. Apparently, the plan for California was already in place, even before the U.S. and Israel launched their initial strikes against Iran on February 28.
Neither the FBI nor the White House has issued a comment on the matter.
ABC claims to have read the alert sent out. It says in part:
We 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 U.S. conducted strikes against Iran. We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.
The New York Post describes it as an “army of drones” that could be launched from a vessel off the West Coast of the United States. The post also suggests that California is home to about half a million Iranian dissidents, the largest number of any state in the U.S., but it’s not clear if that’s why it was targeted specifically.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked President Donald Trump if he was concerned about Iranian attacks on American soil. He said, “No, I am not.”
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security has said Iran and its proxies could pose a threat through targeted attacks on the US, but a large-scale attack was highly unlikely.
ABC also points out that the Mexican cartels’ use of drones at the U.S.-Mexico border has become an increasing concern for the federal government in recent months.
John Cohen, the former head of intelligence for the Department of Homeland Security, told ABC that he’s concerned about drone attacks from both the West Coast and the border. “We know Iran has an extensive presence in Mexico and South America, they have relationships, they have the drones and now they have the incentive to conduct attacks,” he said. “The FBI is smart for putting this warning out so that state and locals can be better able to prepare and respond to these types of threats. Information like this is critically important for law enforcement.”
This is a developing story.
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