CNN
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The unstable ceasefire between Israel and Iran, mediated by President Donald Trump, has not stopped federal officials from continuing to closely monitor threats stemming from conflicts in the Middle East, federal officials told CNN.
Security and intelligence officials are currently not tracking credible threats to the US, but have issued some warnings about the lonely wolves and the potential for cyberattacks caused by conflict.
With the FBI, senior leaders are in the process of separating agents from supporting the Trump administration’s national immigration enforcement mission, allowing them to focus on defending against the threat of counterterrorism.
The ceasefire “doesn’t mean we’re off the gas,” said a federal law enforcement source. “History shows that (the Iranians) are not the most reliable regime. Our work continues.”
The FBI has begun to temporarily reduce its support for Trump’s immigrant ambitions. This reported on Monday a move to assure agents are focusing on potential threats to their homeland due to the US strike against Iran. The final number of agents to be reassigned has not been determined, but sources said some sites could see a significant drop in personnel working on immigration efforts.
In a statement to CNN, the FBI would not directly comment on the changes, but said it is continuing to evaluate and readjust its “resources to respond to the most pressing threats to our national security and ensure the safety of Americans.”
FBI veterans say the new possibility of retaliatory attacks by Iranian affiliates requires a coordinated focus by bureau investigators.
“One of the things the FBI has to do now is to look at all subjects that have closed or opened all subjects in all the surveys that had some kind of connection to the Iranian government,” said Andrew McCabe, former deputy FBI director and senior CNN law enforcement analyst. “All of these cases have to be scrubbed. All the informants who fed these cases have to be regenerated. They have to start collecting current intelligence about what those people are doing now.”
Similarly, US cybersecurity officials are now considering the long history of Iranian hacking activities, where American businesses and government agencies target reminders of how Tehran will respond.
Sources say one reason why the FBI needs attention to potential threats from Iran is the hybrid nature of the way Iran has previously targeted US homeland.
The Department of Homeland Security issued several warnings that Iran could target US officials. Authorities say the country has been going ever since the US killed Iran’s top QASEM Soleimani in 2020.
Iran’s intelligence agency may use hacking to supplement the surveillance of former US officials regarding dissidents or US soils. For example, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton’s former confidant was hacked in 2022 in a possible effort to track Bolton as part of his assassination plot.
Hours before Trump announced the ceasefire Monday evening, FBI director Kash Patel told an audience of local law enforcement officials that the agency’s current focus is “to protecting its homeland.”
“For now, we’re focusing on protecting our hometown and protecting our community, especially given the nature of what’s happened,” Patel told the National Sheriff’s Association.
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem told reporters about the potential threat, saying, “We’re not looking at it now.”
Noem said the department is “a promotion of threats as it means that the likelihood of threats at home can increase as tensions escalate.”