US fears attacks by terror cells after 1,500 Iranians nabbed at border

Officials warn of possible Iranian sleeper cells in the United States after more than 1,500 Iranians were nabbed attempting to infiltrate via Mexico during the Biden administration.

By World Israel News Staff

US officials and lawmakers have voiced renewed concern about the possibility of Iran-linked terrorist sleeper cells inside the United States after more than 1,500 Iranian nationals were intercepted at the southern border during the Biden administration, with hundreds later released pending immigration proceedings.

The warnings have intensified amid the current US-Israel war with Iran and fears that Tehran or its proxies could look for ways to retaliate against targets inside the American homeland.

Officials have expressed concern about possible Iranian agents who were not among the 1,504 Iranian citizens apprehended on the southern border.

Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee told the New York Post that the known numbers are troubling precisely because authorities cannot say with confidence how many others may have evaded detection.

Roughly half of the intercepted Iranians were released into the country while awaiting court hearings.

The concerns have been amplified by intelligence reporting reviewed in recent weeks.

Reuters reported on March 7 that the White House temporarily halted a federal security bulletin warning of a heightened Iran-related threat to the US, saying the administration wanted the alert reviewed before release.

According to the report, the draft bulletin had been prepared for state and local law enforcement by the FBI, DHS and the National Counterterrorism Center.

President Donald Trump has also said publicly that he was briefed on possible Iranian “sleeper cells” in the United States, arguing they entered under earlier border policies.

But the public record remains mixed: Officials have warned of a persistent risk, while stopping short of presenting evidence of a broad, active sleeper cell network already operating domestically.

Iranian-linked plots have in the past been uncovered on American soil.

The Justice Department announced on March 6 that a federal jury convicted Asif Merchant, described as an Iranian government operative tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, after prosecutors said he entered the United States in 2024 to arrange political assassinations, including the killing of Donald Trump.

In a separate 2024 case, the department charged Farhad Shakeri in an alleged IRGC-directed murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said included a plan targeting then-President-elect Trump.