00:00Fears are mounting that Iran-backed sleeper cells might launch attacks within U.S. borders.
00:06Could terrorists already be hiding among us, ready to strike major cities or critical infrastructure?
00:12These people could already be here, and efforts have to be made to focus on them.
00:17And if an attack did occur, could it be traced directly back to Iran?
00:20New York Post reporter Caitlin Dornbos has been investigating the reality behind the
00:24threat of Iranian sleeper cells operating on American soil.
00:29There is a real possibility that sleeper cells from Hamas or Hezbollah or other Iranian proxies
00:35do exist here in the United States.
00:38However, we've seen no indications publicly of them existing.
00:43What's more likely to happen, or that we've at least seen in recent times, have been lone
00:49wolf terrorists, individuals who get self-radicalized online through watching propaganda videos,
00:56or in this case, maybe watching the Supreme Leader's really explosive commentary calling
01:01for strikes on the United States.
01:04In attacks over the past 20, 25 years, terrorists are more likely to actually be in the country
01:10legally than to be an illegal immigrant inside the country carrying out an attack.
01:16You look at the attacks in Orlando at the Pulse nightclub in 2013 that was committed by an American
01:22citizen that was an ISIS sympathizer. Even the 9-11 attackers, they were in the country
01:28legally. So it's important to realize that these people could already be here, and efforts
01:34have to be made to focus on them.
01:36Yet the threat isn't limited to traditional or lone wolf terrorist attacks. Caitlin emphasizes
01:42another potential danger that many Americans overlook, Iranian cyber warfare.
01:47Iranian cyber attacks could really span from anything from low-level things such as data
01:53collection and data stealing to much higher things such as targeting infrastructure.
01:58I don't think Americans really take into consideration how much we rely on technology on a daily basis,
02:05not just for communication with your friends, for videos on your phone, but also infrastructure
02:10for the government such as even going on the subway. Those types of things are dependent
02:16on the internet to keep them running, keeping functioning. So in a cyber attack, if it were to
02:23target a larger infrastructure such as public transportation or hospitals, data, information,
02:30those types of things could really have some physical effects.
02:34These fears aren't unfounded. Border Patrol agents have recently been warned about potential
02:39Iranian sleeper cells, according to reporting by the New York Post. Just days ago, ICE apprehended
02:4511 Iranian migrants attempting to cross illegally, some with suspected terrorist connections.
02:51So what precautions are officials taking?
02:54Luckily, the FBI is aware of this situation and they do have resources committed to trying
03:01to identify possible terror threats in the United States. So there is an active ongoing push by our
03:07government to try to eliminate any kinds of threats before they can happen, making arrests or putting
03:14them through courts. And occasionally you'll see those actually come through the Justice Department in court documents.
03:19Even with these precautions, Caitlin explains the complicated reality facing national security officials.
03:25Shifting resources to secure the border might unintentionally leave us exposed.
03:30The Trump administration has previously moved some funding from counterterrorism efforts to the southern border and fighting illegal immigration.
03:38They did that largely because they felt that terrorists could be using the southern border to get into our country illegally.
03:44So really, it was fighting kind of the same effort overall. However, moving any funding from counterterrorism is always concerning to national security activists.
03:54This is really key, too, because counterterrorism funding at the border preventing the future admission of terrorists doesn't do anything about the terrorists that are already in our country or may have slipped over the border under the Biden administration.
04:09But would Iran's supreme leader even risk attacking the United States directly? According to Caitlin, the Iranian regime knows exactly what such an attack would mean.
04:18He's not going to launch a strike on Americans and American targets even with the use of proxy groups without being fully aware and sure that his regime could withstand attacks from the United States, which clearly it barely could.
04:34Attacking Americans is essentially a death wish for any regime. Iran knows this and is unlikely to actually direct an attack on Americans by proxy groups even.
04:45We could trace that back to Iran. So it's unlikely that they would actually try to take out a hit on Americans unless the regime is sure that it can withstand strikes back from the United States, which clearly it couldn't given the strikes on nuclear facilities.
05:03The risk of an Iranian terrorist attack or cyber strike remains real, even if the likelihood is currently low.
05:10Officials remain vigilant. But as Caitlin's insights reveal, it's crucial that we prepare now to prevent future threats.
Be the first to comment