FBI warns Iran could attack California; state is upping preparedness, Newsom says

The FBI said that the bureau has “no additional information on the timing, method, target or perpetrators of this alleged attack.” 

By World Israel News Staff

The Iranian regime has been planning for a possible drone strike against the United States, the FBI warned recently, with possible ship-based drone attacks on California.

Recently, the FBI notified law enforcement agencies in the Golden State of the potential for Iranian drone strikes in the near future, citing intelligence that suggested the Islamic Republic has been plotting to launch war drones from a vessel off the coast of California.

“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 States homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” the FBI wrote to California police departments.

After 12 days of American and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, the FBI said that the bureau has “no additional information on the timing, method, target or perpetrators of this alleged attack” on California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed that authorities in California have received an alert from the FBI regarding a possible Iranian attack, adding that the state has adopted a “posture of preparedness for the worst-case scenario.”

“We are aware of that information, and we transfer that information, in real time, to our local partners,” Newsom said at a webinar on Wednesday. “Drone issues have always been top of mind. And we’ve assembled some work groups specifically around those concerns.”

“We have been gaming those out for some time as it relates to, again, what the FBI has been warning of. Again, it’s not a surprise, and it’s sort of a large part of the larger spectrum of considerations that we have as it relates to doing what we can to support our federal partners and local partners at the state level, in terms of what could happen next.”

President Donald Trump said the alleged plot is “being investigated.”

“But you have a lot of things happening. And all we can do is take them as they come, “he said.