The FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned of the terror threats Iran poses to the US in a joint intelligence bulletin sent to law enforcement throughout the country on Wednesday.
In the bulletin, which was obtained by CNN, the agencies said they had believed a physical attack would occur first overseas — in line with the missile strikes launched by Iran into Iraq late Tuesday — and predicted Iran could take steps in the immediate term to attack the US in cyberspace.
The bulletin also warns that Iran has a history of making assassination attempts, and outlines the terror threat its proxy Hezbollah poses in the US.
Law enforcement in the US has arrested a number of individuals in recent years accused of working on behalf of Iran or the group “who have conducted surveillance indicative of contingency planning for lethal attacks in the United States against facilities and individuals,” the bulletin says.
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday night issued a separate alert to American cybersecurity teams, urging them to “enhance monitoring of network and email traffic,” including for email phishing attempts. Cybersecurity personnel should immediately flag “any known Iranian indicators of compromise and tactics, techniques, and procedures,” Monday’s alert added.
“Iran has a history of leveraging asymmetric tactics to pursue national interests beyond its conventional capabilities,” the alert said. “Iran has exercised its increasingly sophisticated capabilities to suppress both social and political perspectives deemed dangerous to Iran and to harm regional and international opponents,” it added.
